Nanna Heidenreich

Dr. Nanna Heidenreich is a Professor at the University of Hildesheim, affiliated with the Institute for Media, Theatre and Popular Culture within the Faculty of Cultural Studies & Aesthetic Communication. She represents the professorship of Media Cultural Studies (Stefanie Diekmann) and has been actively contributing to academic discourse since at least 2011. Prior to her position at Hildesheim, she served as a research assistant at the Institute for Media Research at the Braunschweig University of Fine Arts from 2011-2016.

Heidenreich's research spans migration studies, video theory, visual culture, anti-racism, and post-colonial theory, with particular emphasis on how these intersect with artistic practice. Her work demonstrates a consistent focus on the perspective of migration as both subject and methodology, exploring how migration reshapes cultural production and representation. She has made significant contributions to understanding the relationship between cinema, identity formation, and political resistance, particularly through her monograph V/identification services, cinema, and the perspective of migration published in the 'Post_colonial Media Studies' series.

Her scholarly output reveals a strong trajectory connecting theoretical work with practical curatorial engagement. The majority of her publications from 2013-2016 examine migration through multiple lenses - as cultural phenomenon, political reality, and artistic framework. She frequently employs interdisciplinary approaches that bridge film studies, cultural theory, and activism, with particular attention to how visual media can challenge dominant narratives about migration and identity.

• Nominated for the Willi Haas-Preis 2013

Alongside her academic work, Heidenreich maintains an active curatorial practice. Since 2009, she has co-curated the Forum Expanded program at the Berlinale alongside Stefanie Schulte Strathaus, Anselm Franke, Bettina Steinbrügge and Ulrich Ziemons. Since November 2015, she has worked as a curator and consultant for the House of World Cultures on migration, flight and immigration, including curating the project 'Ordnungssysteme' (Systems of Order) with Katrin Klingan in March 2017. Her independent curatorial projects focus on the intersection of politics and cinema/art, particularly through film and video work. Earlier in her career, until 2009, she was involved in performance productions with the anti-racist network Kanak Attak, demonstrating a longstanding commitment to activist cultural work.