Team

Artistic direction and Program

Alex Moussa Sawadogo (Burkina Faso/Germany)

Alex Moussa Sawadogo studied art history in Ouagadougou and cultural and media management in Hamburg, specialising in dance and film. He has worked in numerous cultural institutions in Burkina Faso, including the pan-African film festival FESPACO. In 2005, he was the press and cultural officer of the Burkina Faso embassy in Berlin. He conceived and curated the dance festivals “Border Border Express” (2011), “Moussokouma” (2013), “Sleepless Nights” (2016) and “Timbuktu is Back!” (2019) at HAU Hebbel am Ufer, as curator also at: Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, German Film Focus (South Africa), Afrotech (Dortmund) and 2012-2015 as artistic advisor for the programme “Open Doors” at the Festival del Film Locarno. In 2014, he conceived the symposium “Africa Archive – Africa Future” with ITI Germany for the festival “Theater der Welt” in Mannheim. Since 2019, he has been artistic director of the Festival cinémas d’Afrique Lausanne.

Sawadogo founded the film festival AFRIKAMERA together with Uta Rügner and Florian Wachinger in 2007 and has been its artistic director ever since. In 2016, he also took over the artistic direction of the Ouaga Film Lab in Burkina Faso. Besides, he is the fund manager of the Jeune Création Francophone fund, created in 2018. In October 2020, the Ministry of Culture of Burkina Faso appointed Alex Moussa Sawadogo as the new director of the FESPACO Festival panafricain du cinéma et de la télévision de Ouagadougou.

Project Management and Finance

Uta Rügner

After graduating in Slavic and Cultural Studies in 1996, Uta Rügner was head of public relations at tRÄNENpALAST Veranstaltungs GmbH, KULTURBRAUEREI GmbH and Kesselhaus GmbH. With Hahn Produktion, she was project and production manager for the ‘Russian Cultural Days in Germany 03/04’, an international cultural dialogue commissioned by the Federal Foreign Office and the State of Berlin. She currently heads the project finance department of the Amadeu Antonio Foundation, produces AFRIKAMERA – Contemporary Cinema from Africa with the team from toucouleur e.V., does cultural policy lobbying on the board of Festiwelt e.V., works with fabrikpublik as a PR and cultural manager for cultural and film festivals (including Karneval der Kulturen, Schloss Biesdorf, Alfilm-Arabisches Filmfestival) and clients from the cultural, educational and social sectors. She advises associations, initiatives and independent artists on the conception of funding applications and the administration of funds and is active in supporting refugees on a voluntary basis.

Concept and Communication 

Florian Wachinger

Florian Wachinger studied cultural studies in Berlin and London as well as cultural management in Hamburg. He works as a cultural manager, curator and journalist, engaging in film, music and contemporary art. During the past year he was responsible as (co)curator for the film retrospectives „Musik- Stadt – Berlin“ and „Berlin Rewind“ as part of actung berlin / Berlin Music Week, as well as the film series „Tonspuren – Filme hören“, a part of MaerzMusik 2011. As a cultural manager with focus on production he works for international music and arts festivals, such as SOUND EXCHANGE and documenta. At AFRIKAMERA he is responsible for PR and communication as well as text and concept development.

PR / Festival Coordinator

Christiane Dramé

Christiane Dramé studied German Studies, Romance languages and political science in Berlin and Trieste/ Italy. Following a radio traineeship at JazzRadio Berlin, various roles in the publishing industry and a stint as head of the press office at tRÄNENpALAST Veranstaltungs GmbH, she has been working as a freelancer in cultural communications for many years. Her work encompasses press and public relations, marketing, project coordination and cultural education. She manages cultural projects and festivals across various genres, particularly in transcultural contexts. In addition, she has many years’ experience in event organisation and collaborating with cultural institutions, public bodies, foundations and artists. She also works as a lecturer in PR and communication.
Since 2011, she has been with AFRIKAMERA – Contemporary Cinema from Africa, where she is responsible for press and public relations, festival coordination and networking.

Social Media

Program Coordination

Tatjana Arens

Tatjana Arens studied philosophy and theater studies at the University of Leipzig, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle 3 in Paris and at the FU Berlin. Since 2015 she is cooperator at the Festspielhaus Afrika gGmbH, the project Operndorf Afrika initiated by Christoph Schlingensief, where she led several events, among others for the HKW Berlin and the Frieze London. Since 2016 she is collaborator for Afrikamera. Tatjana Arens lives and works in Berlin.