PD Soros Fellowships for New Americans

If you are an applicant and need to sign into the online application, you can find the link on the "Apply" page of our website: Apply Page.

If you are a fellow looking to login, please note that we are currently updating our backend system for managing Fellow data. In the meantime, to update your information for the Fellowship, please send updates to Nikka Landau at nlandau@pdsoros.org.

Meet the Fellows

Lilian Mehrel, 2013

MFA, New York University (NYU)

Lilian Mehrel is the child of immigrants from Germany and Iran

Fellowship awarded to support work towards an MFA in Film Directing & Writing at New York University (NYU)

Lilian T. Mehrel is an award-winning writer & director with a visionary sense of feeling and humor.

Lilian’s films have premiered at Tribeca and screened internationally at Clermont-Ferrand, and her awards include ABC/Disney and HFPA. Featured in Variety, Forbes, The Hollywood Reporter, and The NYT, her body of work includes Water Melts, created with MG Evangelista and supported by Tribeca and Google, Musica Quarantena, created with Danielle Rhoda starring Elisa del Genio (HBO’s My Brilliant Friend), and The Loneliest, an Alfred P. Sloan awarded film starring Madeline Wise (HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm).

She earned her MFA from NYU Tisch Grad Film, and her BA from Dartmouth with a Senior Fellowship. A mixed-ethnicity daughter of immigrants, she also authored/illustrated a family memoir and is a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow.

Lilian inspires audiences to laugh and cry with her funny, hopeful swirl of cinematic poetry.

www.lilianmehrel.com

Education

BA Senior Fellowship (Creative Writing) | Dartmouth College
MFA Film Directing & Writing | New York University (NYU)

Awards

TRIBECA FILM INSTITUTE & GOOGLE AWARD & LAB
Official Selection at the Tribeca Film Festival
ABC/Disney Film Award
Imagine Science 48 hour film: 1st place
Puffin Foundation Film Award
Nancy Malone Directing Award
Alfred P. Sloan Science Foundation Film Award
OFFICIAL SELECTION, CLERMONT-FERRAND FILM FESTIVAL
HFPA

04.24.19

Q&A: Lilian Mehrel’s Film “Water Melts” Debuts at the Tribeca Film Festival

2013 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow Lilian Mehrel’s romantic comedy Water Melts will be shown at the Tribeca Film Festival between April 26 – May 4, 2019.

09.12.16

2016-2017 Edition: The New American

The New American features stories about Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows making an impact across sectors and across the country. Read about immigrants and children of immigrants and how they are giving back to the United States.

01.06.16

Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships' Best of 2015

This year, we decided to reach out to our 535 Fellows to find out what were their favorite podcasts, books, films, apps, and TV shows (and even tweets) were in 2015. Only, there was one minor twist, we asked them to focus on work that was by or...

09.04.15

The New American: Fellows in Brief

"Fellows in Brief" is a segment of "The New American," which was introduced in the 2015-2016 newsletter. The segment covers Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows making an impact.

Lilian Mehrel, 2013

BA Senior Fellowship (Creative Writing) | Dartmouth College

MFA Film Directing & Writing | New York University (NYU)

TRIBECA FILM INSTITUTE & GOOGLE AWARD & LAB

Official Selection at the Tribeca Film Festival

ABC/Disney Film Award

Imagine Science 48 hour film: 1st place

Puffin Foundation Film Award

Nancy Malone Directing Award

Alfred P. Sloan Science Foundation Film Award

OFFICIAL SELECTION, CLERMONT-FERRAND FILM FESTIVAL

HFPA

Q&A: Lilian Mehrel’s Film “Water Melts” Debuts at the Tribeca Film Festival

2016-2017 Edition: The New American

Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships' Best of 2015

The New American: Fellows in Brief