Usama Alshaibi is a Teaching Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Colorado State University, where he teaches film production and film studies. Born in Baghdad, Iraq, he spent his formative years living between the United States and the Middle East. He is a filmmaker, artist, and educator who works across documentary, fiction, and experimental cinema, often blurring the boundaries between them. His films have screened extensively at international and underground film festivals, museums, and media exhibitions, and have received support from organizations including the MacArthur Foundation, the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, the Playboy Foundation, and Creative Capital.

His first feature documentary, Nice Bombs, shot in Baghdad shortly after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, received a theatrical release in Chicago and New York before premiering on the Sundance Channel. His second feature documentary, American Arab, premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) and was later broadcast on PBS World Channel.

His most recent feature, This Has Already Happened, conceived and produced during the height of the pandemic, received the Jury Award at the Pebbles Underground Film and Video Art Festival. His latest short documentary, Trip Ziggurat, was commissioned by Firelight Media in partnership with PBS and distributed by PBS Digital Studios.

He is the recipient of Colorado State University’s Excellence in Undergraduate Mentorship Award and the Provost’s Teaching Award. He developed the film production course The Personal Lens–Making Media and founded Through the Student Lens Film Festival, where he serves as Program Director.