Rita Baghdadi is an Emmy award-winning director known for the intimacy of her bold, character-driven work.

Her feature documentary Sirens premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and won the Grand Jury Prize at Outfest. The film was praised as “utterly charming” by the Hollywood Reporter, “deeply moving,” and “narrative perfection.” Released in theaters across the U.S by Oscilloscope, it is now available to stream. Most recently, Rita directed Wild Boys, a 2-part doc series for Paramount+, based on the hit podcast. Her film Finding the Light, about former conflict photographer Muhammed Muheison, premiered on Nat Geo/Disney+ as part of the Peabody Award-winning anthology series, Photographer. Rita’s work on that film garnered nominations from Cinema Eye Honors and the Independent Spirit Awards.

Rita is an active mentor and speaker in the international documentary community. Alongside partners Jennifer Tiexiera and Camilla Hall, she co-founded the Los Angeles and London based production company Lady and Bird Films (Subject), known for their commitment to ethical nonfiction filmmaking. Rita is a Chicken & Egg Awardee, a Concordia Fellow, a Sundance Momentum Fellow, a Film Independent Fellow, and one of DOC NYC’s ‘40 under 40.' She is a member of Brown Girls Doc Mafia, and is also an accomplished cinematographer, sponsored by Canon.

Currently, Rita is in stages of development, production and post-production on several projects, including Stallions, a feature documentary shooting in Morocco which was selected for the 2026 Venice Gap-Financing Market, and her debut scripted feature. When she’s not behind the camera, she’s always looking for a horse to ride.