European Film Promotion (EFP) is delighted to announce the up-and-coming acting talent who have been selected for the next edition of EUROPEAN SHOOTING STARS. They will be introduced to the international press, film industry and the audience during the 73rd Berlinale. The four-day tailormade promotion and networking programme (running 17 - 20 February 2023) is capped off with a celebration of the talent at an Awards Ceremony at the Berlinale Palast.
The European Shooting Stars 2023 - including eight women and two men - were selected from a pool of 27 nominees by an international jury, comprised of Polish director Jan Komasa, Dutch casting director Rebecca van Unen, Norwegian producer Maria Ekerhovd, Variety's international features editor Leo Barraclough from the UK and former Spanish Shooting Star Veronica Echegui. These five experts recognised the talents' remarkable potential for an international career based on several factors, including their stellar work in the feature films and drama series which were submitted for their nomination (and which are noted in bold in their bios below).
"We are very grateful to the national promotion and film institutes who gave us the opportunity to discover their countries' emerging talent and to the jury who faced a true challenge in selecting the 10 best from such a strong group of nominees. We are very pleased to present their selection of European Shooting Stars 2023 which is characterised by diversity in age, experience and cultural backgrounds but united in its representation of exceptional acting talent. They are all truly ready for international discovery", says Tina Hajon, programme director of EUROPEAN SHOOTING STARS.
The European Shooting Stars 2023: Joely Mbundu (Belgium), Alina Tomnikov (Finland), Leonie Benesch (Germany), Thorvaldur Kristjansson (Iceland), Benedetta Porcaroli (Italy), Yannick Jozefzoon (The Netherlands), Kristine Kujath Thorp (Norway), Judith State (Romania), Gizem Erdogan (Sweden) and Kayije Kagame (Switzerland). The Jury declared that Benedetta Porcaroli "carries Carolina Cavalli's quirky comedic Amanda with great assurance, as well as transmitting a high temperature that keeps the film at fever pitch". Although Benedetta is an emerging actress, "she emanates a strong personality and a particular way of looking at the world". Her debut on the big screen was in 2015 in Perfect Strangers, which was quickly followed with roles in critically acclaimed films such as The Catholic School, 7 Women and a Murder and the Netflix series, Baby.
With a four-day intensive customised programme, EUROPEAN SHOOTING STARS provides an international networking platform for the selected talent to meet journalists, casting directors, producers and filmmakers in Berlin. It offers a unique opportunity to create the professional network needed for the talent to embark on an international career. The programme culminates in a glamourous awards ceremony at the Berlinale Palast on Monday 20 February, where each actress and actor will be honoured with the European Shooting Stars Award.
Throughout its 25 plus years, EUROPEAN SHOOTING STARS has been an important stepping-stone for the selected talent's international careers - notable Shooting Stars of recent years include: Matilda de Angelis (Atlas, The Undoing), Bill Skarsgård (It, It Chapter 2), Carey Mulligan (She Said, The Dig, Promising Young Woman, The Great Gatsby), Alba Rohrwacher (Happy as Lazzaro), Oscar-winner Alicia Vikander (Beckett, Tomb Raider), Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones), Riz Ahmed (Encounter, Sound of Metal, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Mogul Mowgli), George MacKay (Munich - The Edge of War, 1917), Daniel Brühl (All Quiet on the Western Front) and Louis Hofmann (The Forger).
EUROPEAN SHOOTING STARS is made possible thanks to the support of Creative Europe - the MEDIA Programme of the European Union, the German Federal Commissioner for Culture and Media, Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and Spotlight, as well as the participating national film promotion institutes and film centres from the Shooting Stars' countries (EFP's member organisations): With special thanks to German Films, Cinecittà (Italy), Finnish Film Foundation, Icelandic Film Centre, Norwegian Film Institute, Romanian Film Development, SEE NL (The Netherlands), Swedish Film Institute, SWISS FILMS and Wallonie Bruxelles Images (Belgium).
EUROPEAN SHOOTING STARS' main media partner is Variety, with additional media partners: Screen International, Cineuropa, Blickpunkt:Film, HeyUGuys and Festival Scope.