I NEVER HAD A VIEW

Born in Cameroon, Gabriel Bihina Arrahnio immigrated to Germany with his family at age 13. Soon after he discovered the power of filmmaking, and taught himself what he needed to know about writing, creating and visualising films. After moving to Berlin and doing internships at small film production companies, the agency Jung von Matt hired Gabriel where he worked for almost 3 years. He then decided to pursue his studies at the Film University Babelsberg. Gabriel is an all-round talent on a mission to tell stories that have a deep emotional impact. His special interest is in giving marginalised people a voice to empower them.

Phyllis Quartey, she/her is 36 years old, mother, activist, graduate of the Black Empowerment Academy in Berlin, educational consultant, former student of industrial management in global markets at the European University of Applied Sciences in  Brühl, and a poet. She deals with the issues of anti-racism, colonialism and empowerment in the initiatives “N-Wort Stoppen”, “Decolonize-Wuppertal” and in various workshops. Her main concern is to enable a critical examination of the history of colonialism and its effects until today. Her idols are her father, May Ayim and Audre Lorde. With Joanna Peprah and Molley, she curated the Diaspora short film programme this year.

Joanna Peprah is a spokesperson of the local group Cologne as well as an advisory board member of the Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland e. V. (ISD). She is a co-founder of the initiative "Stop the N-word", which campaigned for Cologne - as the first city in Germany - to outlaw the N-word in 2020. They achieved this goal with Germany-wide demonstrations, rallies and social media actions on the topic of racism & anti-black racism. Joanna Peprah is a consultant and speaker. In 2022, she was appointed to the Expert:inside Panel (Post)Colonial Heritage of Cologne and organised the first Black-Owned Pop-Up Market in NRW. With Phyllis Quartey and Molley, she curated the Diaspora short film programme this year.

In 1986, at the age of 4, Molley fled the civil war in Liberia for Germany. There, in the late 1990s, he discovered hip-hop. By the age of 17, he was opening for Sido, K.I.Z., Kollegah and performing at Kool Savas' after-show party. His music oscillates between political rap, afrobeat and indie soul, defending love, solidarity and respect. It's not only musically that Molley takes a clear stand against racism, sexism, homophobia, hatred and violence, he's also an active member of the N-Wort Stoppen Initiative and cooperates with other initiatives such as Seebrücke, Wir sind Alle Mittendrin, Artists for Peace. In collaboration with Phyllis Quartey and Joanna Peprah, he directed this year's Diaspora short film program.