MEET THE TEAM

SHEBA HIRST

FESTIVAL DIRECTOR

Sheba is an Entertainment Manager and Co-owner of Rainmaker Ltd, a leading production house and recording studio in Nairobi, the guiding force behind award-winning musical theatre productions and Manager of iconic Kenyan musician Eric Wainaina for the past decade.

Among notable and experimental reality television series Sheba produced is Uongozi - a search for leadership talent, and she was the anchor of acclaimed and widely popular The Woman’s Show that aired across East Africa. Sheba has a degree in Political Science with Film & Theatre Studies from Wellesley College.

LOUIZA WANJIKU

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

Louiza graduated with an Advanced Diploma in Production and Post Production for Television and Film at Mohamed Amin Foundation. Working across a broad range of mediums from advertising, documentaries, a gameshow, short films, tv series, and on the international award-winning feature film Kati Kati, she also co-directed and edited the short film Maria, which won the Sembene Ousmane award at Zanzibar Film Festival.

MBITHI MASYA

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Mbithi is an international award-winning Kenyan filmmaker, writer and artist whose previous film, Kati Kati produced by acclaimed German director Tom Tykwer, was Kenya’s 2018 Foreign Language Oscar® submission. Mbithi has also worked filmed across 8 different African countries as an advertising commercials director.

As an artist, he is a member of the celebrated experimental art collective Just a Band, whose collaborations have included distinguished musicians Childish Gambino, Owuor Arunga and many others.

CHARLES NYIHA

VISUAL DIRECTOR

Charles Nyiha is a digital artist, electronic musician and graphic designer. He is interested in the relationships between natural science, art and mysticism, and he uses computers as his primary tools for investigating them. He is currently doing a Masters in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins.

CHRISTINE WANJIRU

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADMINISTRATOR

Christine Wanjiru is a multifaceted artist who has a strong interest in building and working with innovative software solutions especially in the arts. As an artist, she plays in bead work, painting and knitting. She is currently a software engineer at a programmatic advertising firm.

MELISSA MBUGUA

ENGAGEMENT & PARTNERSHIPS DIRECTOR

Melissa is an entrepreneur who focuses on building creative ventures that shape an expansive future for Africa’s economy and society. For more than 10 years, she has worked at the intersection of arts, business, technology and development. Melissa is an architect of solutions, brokering relationships across borders and charting new pathways to strengthen ecosystems for innovation.

She is a Co-Founder of Africa Podfest and a Co-Director of NBO Film Festival.

ANGEL CHENG

COMMUNICATIONS & INDUSTRY ENGAGEMENT DIRECTOR

Angel is a specialist in strategic communications & political advocacy, stakeholder engagement and
brand development in entertainment, arts & culture, and international development sectors. She manages international publicity for WOLF Consultants and for the Doha Film Institute, was a producer on award- winning documentaries Fight Like a Girl and Squirrel Wars, and produces documentary new media projects. Angel previously held senior publicity positions at Toronto International Film Festival and Tribeca Film Festival, and served on film juries at Thessaloniki Film Festival and Woods Hole Film Festival.