Ex-Sales Veteran Named As New Berlinale Talents Programme Manager

Former sales exec Tobias Pausinger has been appointed programme manager of the Berlin Film Festival’s long-running Berlinale Talents initiative with immediate effect.

He will be part of a dual leadership team running the talent development initiative alongside Project Manager Nikola Joetze. He takes over the position from Florian Weghorn, who was appointed Chief of Staff in July 2024.

A Berlinale Talents alumnus himself, Pausinger trained in international film production and financing and holds an MBA from the TU Munich. 

He began his film career working in international films sales for Bavaria Film International, and then followed Michael Weber to the The Match Factory, rising to the role of head of acquisitions at the latter.

During his time there, he was involved in the acquisition of films by the likes of Faith Atkin, Pipilotti Rist, Ari Folman, Thomas Vitenberg, Danis Tanovic, Tom Tykwer, Jasmila Zbanic and Lisandro Alonso.

In more recent years, he has worked as a consultant for a number of film festivals, markets and training initiatives.

At the same time, he co-founded the Art:Film initiative to foster artistic cinema and visual arts and has also represented Germany on the Board of Management at Eurimages. He has also been a member of the European Film Academy since 2014.

Berlinale Pro Director Tanja Meissner welcomed the industry experience Pausinger would bring to the role.

“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,” she said.

“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.”

Pausinger said the Berlinale Talents program had a key role to play in a politically turbulent world and  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,” he said. 

More than 3,800 film professionals from all over the world and 14 film disciplines have 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.