Themba Biko Bhebhe

Themba, after a decade in international film sales, led Diversity & Inclusion at the European Film Market (Berlinale) from 2017 to 2024. He curated inclusion events at EFM’s Industry Sessions and collaborated with community-based film organisations and advocacy groups. He co-managed the Doc and Fiction Toolbox Programmes and the EFM (Online) Market Badge Inclusion Initiative with Nadja Tennstedt. Themba co-founded Engage, a think tank series on African film industry challenges, with Mitchell Harper and Tiny Mungwe. He is also a founding member of the Programmers of Colour Collective (POC2). Since 2021, Themba has mentored at Durban FilmMart’s Pitching and Financing Forum, advising projects across Africa. He co-founded the Caribbean Film Academy with Chloë Walters-Wallace, organising the Third Horizon Caribbean Film Industry Think Tank in Miami in May 2024. Themba has held various programming roles at festivals like Carla 2020 (WIFT), Mind the Gap (Mill Valley Film Festival), Medici – The Film Funding Journey (FOCAL), Generation (Berlinale), and Arica Nativa (Chile). He is a regular member of selection committees for the New Dawn Film Fund and Zürcher Filmstiftung, and a member of the European Film Academy.