INSTRUCTORS
Kristie Alshaibi has participated in many illicit occupations in order to support her nasty filmmaking habit, including teaching video editing, working as one of the program directors of the Z Film Festival, and festival director of the 72 Hour Feature Project. She has attempted to elevate her fascination with multiple identities and primal urges to the level of art. In the process, she has received generous grants from such places as the Princess Grace Foundation, and the Film Society of Lincoln Center (New York), as well as a full merit scholarship from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she received her Master's degree in Film and Video in 2001. Kristie’s work has been shown in dozens of festivals and venues across the United States and abroad, including Anthology Film Archive in NYC, and the Horse Hospital in London. Kristie is a producer as well as a filmmaker, and has played an integral role in the creation and promotion of features ranging from documentaries to rock musicals. In the realm of adult entertainment, she owns and operates an adult video web site, and writes articles and film reviews for magazines such as $pread. She has shot behind-the-scenes for major adult video companies, with stars such as Belladonna and Katja Kassin. Kristie’s alter ego, the alien prostitute and porno actress Echo Transgression, appeared on MTV's Sex2K, performed live on the air with Mancow, and is also the central character of her feature length motion picture titled Other People's Mirrors. Echo also appears on stage with Magic is Küntmaster at venues such as the Empty Bottle. Feature articles about Kristie Alshaibi’s work have appeared in local publications, including the Chicago Reader and New City.
Usama Alshaibi was born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1969. His work in film and video has been screened at numerous film festivals and venues across the United States and abroad. He is the recipient of a generous 2005 grant from the Creative Capital Foundation for the Arts and a Playboy Foundation Award, as well as the winner of the Creative Promise Award at Tribeca All Access in NYC. He has completed one narrative feature titled Muhammad and Jane, and more than thirty short films and videos. He has also produced and directed music videos for a variety of recording artists, including Bobby Conn and Panicsville. Usama is the founder and Director of the Z Film Festival and film/video curator for specialized screenings that have received critical accolades. As an adjunct professor at Columbia College in Chicago, Alshaibi teaches documentary film classes, and he has lectured as an artist in residence at schools and universities throughout the U.S. In addition to reaching an eclectic audience with his video and film work, Alshaibi's photography has been included in several print and web publications. An interview with Usama appears in Studs Terkel's book Hope Dies Last. Feature articles have been written about his work and he has appeared on a variety of television and radio news programs. Usama and Kristie returned to his birthplace in Iraq to shoot his first feature documentary titled Nice Bombs, which will be ready for North American distribution in 2007.
Usama and Kristie Alshaibi have been making movies and running film festivals together for over five years. They met in 2000 when Kristie was directing her first feature, and Usama was launching the infamous Z Film Festival. The two married in 2002 and in 2004 Usama signed on as co-owner of Artvamp LLC, a video production and distribution company founded by Kristie.