Koutaiba Al-Janabi was born in Baghdad and studied photography and cinematography in Budapest, Hungary. He worked as a producer and director in several televisions. Moreover, he was a cinematographer on feature films. Koutaiba directs and produces short films, documentaries including ‘The Train,’ ‘Wasteland,’ ‘The Ever Restless Man.’ He worked on several feature films including 'Leaving Baghdad,' which received multiple accolades, including first place at the Dubai International Film Festival and the British Independent Film Award. It was also nominated for a Cinema for Peace Award in Berlin, and it was just screened in New York's Museum of Modern Art.
Furthermore, Koutaiba Al-Janabi directed the multi-award-winning feature documentary 'Stories of Passers Through,' which was shot over 30 years, and was featured in several prestigious international festivals worldwide, and ‘The Woodman,’ is his recent film.