Studio Ragheb was founded in 2021 by Lily Ekimian Ragheb (b. 1997) & Ahmed Tarek Ragheb (b. 1996).

Ahmed T. Ragheb & Lily Ekimian Ragheb are a married experimental filmmaking duo based in Pittsburgh, PA. Lily (American, Russian and Armenian) grew up between Washington, D.C., and Cairo, Egypt. Ahmed (Egyptian, Dutch and American) was born and raised in Cairo. Their films emphasize identity, feminism, cultural dislocation and domestic relationships, and are noted for their use of voiceover and mixed media. Their work has screened at world-renowned and Oscar-qualifying festivals including International Film Festival Rotterdam (Tiger Short Competition), Cairo International Film Festival, Uppsala Short Film Festival (Nominated, Ingmar Bergman Award) and Athens Int’l Film + Video Festival, as well as the Arab American National Museum and the Mattress Factory Contemporary Art Museum. They have received artist residencies at the Squeaky Wheel Film & Media Art Center (Buffalo, NY, Summer 2024) and the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts (Omaha, NE, Fall 2025), and were awarded the Gift to America 2.0 Artist Commission (Millvale, PA, 2025-26) by the Society to Preserve the Millvale Murals of Maxo Vanka.

ABOUT US

 Festivals & Screenings

• 54th International Film Festival Rotterdam (Tiger Short Competition), Netherlands, 2025

• 45th Cairo International Film Festival (Oscar-Qualifying), Egypt, 2024

• 51st Athens International Film + Video Festival (Oscar-Qualifying), USA, 2024

• 26th RiverRun International Film Festival (Oscar-Qualifying), USA, 2024

• 30th Cucalorus Film Festival, USA, 2024

• Arab American National Museum’s Arab Film Festival, USA, 2024

• Mtn Craft Film Festival, USA, 2024

• 40th Uppsala Short Film Festival (Oscar-Qualifying) , Sweden, 2021

  • Nominated, Ingmar Bergman Award

• The Mattress Factory Community Fest, USA 2024

• Pittsburgh Shorts Film Festival, USA, 2023

• Arab Film Series, USA, 2023

  • Arte East in collaboration with the Arab American National Museum & AFMI

• 27th AFMI Arab Film Festival, USA, 2023

• Twin Cities Arab Film Festival, USA, 2023

• Filmmaker’s Corner, WQED (PBS), USA 2023

• Pittsburgh Shorts Film Festival, USA, 2022

• The Virtual Otherwise Festival, USA, 2022

• Le Printemps des Artistes, Egypt, 2022

• MENA Film Festival, Canada, 2021

• Pittsburgh Shorts Film Festival, USA, 2021

• 14th Southampton Film Week, UK, 2021

• 25th AFMI Arab Film Festival, USA, 2021

  • Co-presented by SF Urban Film Fest ‘21

• Twin Cities Arab Film Festival, USA, 2021

• Muslim Film Festival, Australia, 2021

• Manchester Lift Off, UK, 2021

• Essex DocFest, UK, 2020

• 13th Southampton Film Week, UK, 2020

Press

“Tiger and Big Screen Lineups Unveiled," Variety

“Rotterdam Sets Competition Lineups,” Deadline

“In Transit Between Identities: Pittsburgh is a Feeling,” Petrichor

“Pittsburgh is a Feeling: Filmmakers explores a sense of place,” NPR: 90.5 WESA

“IFFR Unveils 2025 Lineup,” The Hollywood Reporter

“Locally made film shares an Egyptian-American dreamscape split across Pittsburgh and Cairo,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“Squeaky Wheel announces Summer 2024 Workspace Residents,” Squeaky Wheel Film & Media Art Center

“Studio Ragheb explores Arab-American identity at AIFVF,” The Post Athens

“Short film showcasing Rust-Belt diversity to premiere at film festival,” The Athens News

“Local films are on the bill at the Pittsburgh Shorts festival,” NPR: 90.5 WESA

“Three Rivers, Pittsburgh Shorts festivals screen 12 days of indie films,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“The Sailor brings an immigrant perspective to Pittsburgh’s film landscape,” The Pittsburgh City Paper

“An Interview with Studio Ragheb About Their Upcoming Project “She Sings,” Imagine Products, Inc. News

“Pittsburgh's character comes out in local filmmakers' festival shorts,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

“20 Arab Directors On Why They Made Their Films,” The Arab Film & Media Institute