Aida Schlaepfer, a film director and artist, was born in Baghdad to a Lebanese mother and an Iraqi father, and spent her childhood living between her parents homelands. At age 20, she moved to Europe, where she studied German for several years before eventually settling in Switzerland. Always interested in film and the arts despite having been trained as an accountant, Aida earned a degree in Art and Media Design at F+F Schule für Kunst und Mediendesign in Zurich. In 2003, she relocated to Egypt to attend the High Cinema Institute at the prestigious Academy of Arts in Cairo, earning a post-graduate diploma in Film Directing. Aida has several films to her credit, including Shadow Black and White (2001), Silent Screening inside a Woman (2002), East and West Dancing (2003), Marionette (2005), Gangs of Baghdad 2007, Homeland 2008, and an educational film created in 2006 for the German School in Cairo. Marionette, in particular, received wide exposure and was screened at film festivals around the world, including Poland (2006), Houston (2006 Bronze Medal winner), Cairo (National Festival of Cinema; Saqeyat Al Sawee Cultural Center; French and Russian Cultural Centers, 2006; Independent Film Encounter IFE, 2007), France (2007), Berlin (2007) and Tunisia (2007). In addition, her paintings have been exhibited throughout Lebanon, Switzerland and Egypt.

Aida credits her personal experience of having watched Lebanon and Iraq descend into war and anarchy with instilling within her a deep understanding of how destructive war is both physically and psychologically. This understanding and personal experience with war motivated Aida to complete a one-year professional training in mediation in Zurich; it was also the impetus behind the creation of Gangs of Baghdad. More than anything, Aida hopes to bring global attention to the plight of the vulnerable and galvanize action for change with her films.