Micky Kwella was the co-founder and first artistic director of transmediale. He studied at the German Cinematic and Television Academy (DFFB) in Berlin before joining the independent video production group MedienOperative in the early 1980s. When the International Forum of New Cinema at the Berlinale decided to almost completely cease their screenings of videos and video art in 1987, MedienOperative took action and organized its own video-only program under the name VideoFilmFest in 1988, which ran parallel to the Berlinale. In 1997 the festival changed its name to transmedia and one year later to transmediale. Micky Kwella was transmediale’s artistic director until 2000; additionally, he worked as a lecturer at various universities and institutions. He died in 2003.