Director/Producer

Rita Baghdadi

Rita Baghdadi is an Emmy award-winning Moroccan-American documentary filmmaker known for the intimacy of her character-driven films. Her latest film SIRENS premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, won the Grand Jury Prize at Outfest and was praised as “utterly charming,” “deeply moving,” “smartly crafted” and “a bold rebellion.” SIRENS was released in theaters across the U.S and is now available for rent on VOD platforms. Rita’s previous films include MY COUNTRY NO MORE (Independent Lens), winner of Best Feature at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival and CITY RISING, winner of the LA-area Emmy award for Best Social Issue Film. Rita’s work has been supported by Sundance, Tribeca, Netflix, HBO, Canon, Film Independent and the International Documentary Association. She is a 2023 Sundance Momentum Fellow, DOC NYC’s ‘40 under 40’ class of 2022, and a member of the Director’s Guild of America. She is currently in post-production on a documentary for NatGeo/Disney+ and in development on several new projects.

Producer

Sahar Yousefi

Sahar Yousefi is a producer and founder of Nava Projects. After working at the National Film Board of Canada, Sahar went on to produce and finance projects selected by Sundance, SXSW, Karlovy Vary, Rotterdam, Hot Docs, and SFFILM, among others. Her work has been financed by the Sundance Institute, Doha Film Institute, Telefilm Canada, Red Sea Film Institute, IDFA Bertha Fund, Hot Docs Crosscurrents, AFAC, and many others. Nava Project’s previous work includes PLAY YOUR GENDER (Edith Lando Peace Prize, Best Art/Music Documentary at Melbourne International Documentary Festival), IN THE SHADOW OF THE PINES (Best Animated Short at SFFILM, Hot Docs), and WARSHA (Sundance International Short Jury Prize, 2023 Oscar Shortlist). Yousefi is in post-production on Polina Teif’s EULOGY FOR THE DEAD SEA (Cannes Doc-in-Progress, Hot Docs Works-in-Progress) and Asmahan Bkerat’s CONCRETE LAND (Sundance Documentary Fund, True/False Rough Cut Lab). She is in development on Dania Bdeir’s PIGEON WARS (Atlas Prize for Development, Sundance Screenwriters & Directors Lab) and ASEA by Gabriela Osio Vanden (NUISANCE BEAR, Oscars Shortlist, Critics Choice Award Winner), among others. Yousefi is an alumnus of the Berlinale Doc Toolbox Lab, Hot Docs Accelerator Lab, RIDM Talent Lab, and was selected for this year’s EAVE Producers Lab.