Berlinale Appoints Tobias Pausinger as New Programme Manager of Berlinale Talents

Tobias Pausinger, der neue Programmleiter von Berlinale Talents / Tobias Pausinger, the new Programme Manager of Berlinale Talents

 © Steffen Junghans

On October 1, Tobias Pausinger will take over the programme management of Berlinale Talents, completing the dual leadership team of the talent development initiative alongside Project Manager Nikola Joetze.

Tobias, a seasoned, interdisciplinary creative executive, has made a distinct career in a variety of capacities within the international film industry, including creative development and producing, licensing, acquisitions and international sales, public policy, academia, film funding and festivals.

A Berlinale Talents alumnus himself, Tobias Pausinger was trained in international film production and financing and holds an MBA from the TU Munich. Tobias has been instrumental for many years in acquiring multi-award-winning films for international sales during his time at Bavaria Film International and The Match Factory. In addition to this, he has continuously provided guidance to film festivals and industry initiatives on content development and strategy. Tobias also co-founded the Art:Film initiative to foster artistic cinema and visual arts. Further, during his time at the BKM, Tobias represented Germany on the Board of Management at Eurimages. He has also been a member of the European Film Academy since 2014.

The Director of Berlinale Pro* Tanja Meissner extends a warm welcome to Tobias as he joins the festival team: “We are thrilled to welcome Tobias to the Berlinale Pro* team! With 20 years of experience across diverse roles, Tobias has built a reputation for driving high-level creative projects, demonstrating strong commitment to nurturing artistic cinema and dedication to fostering talent. We are excited to tap into his great wealth of knowledge and extensive network within the international film industry to provide strategic direction in programme development as we continue to expand Berlinale Talents.”

“As a proud Talents alumnus, I have closely followed and admired the programme's evolution over the past twenty years. I am truly impressed by the incredible and inspiring hub that Florian Weghorn, Nikola Joetze, Christine Tröstrum, and their dedicated team have created. In today's politically turbulent world and within our rapidly changing industry, it is more important than ever for creatives to have a brave and safe space where they can develop their ideas, network, enhance their skills, and inspire one another. I am both humbled and thrilled to join this remarkable team and to collaboratively advance the programme further,” says incoming Programme Manager Tobias Pausinger. 

Tobias Pausinger takes over the position of Programme Manager from Florian Weghorn, who was appointed Chief of Staff in July 2024.

Over 3,800 film professionals from all over the world and 14 film disciplines submitted applications for the next edition of Berlinale Talents (February 15-20, 2025). The selected participants will be notified in mid-December and announced publicly in January. More information on Berlinale Talents can be found at www.berlinale-talents.de.