The EFP (European Film Promotion) has named its ten best up and coming talents to be honoured as European Shooting Stars during the 69th Berlin International Film Festival in 2019.
In its 22nd year, the European Shooting Stars has taken the best from Europe in the industry who they deem are ready to step out onto the international film scene by a jury of industry experts.
Elliott Crosset Hove from Denmark swayed the jury with his “raw ability to shift from transparent vulnerability to intimidation” in Winter Brothers, for which he won the Best Actor Award at the Locarno and Vilinus Film Festivals, and a Robert, the Danish Academy Award.
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Rea Lest-Liik from Estonia impressed with her “fierceness, forcefulness and passion” depicted in November.
The youngest up-and-coming star is Emma Drogunova from Germany. Now 23, she started filming at the age of 16 and her performance this year in The Tobacconist made her an “energetic, captivating, multifaceted and vibrant discovery” for the experts.
Kristín Thora Haraldsdóttir from Iceland shows a deep understanding of her often very challenging characters, as most recently seen in And Breathe Normally, earning her the audience’s “utmost trust and attention”.
Aisling Franciosi from Ireland, whose credits include TV series Games of Thrones and Legends, stunned the jury with her “great acting range and superb instincts” in The Nightingale.
Macedonian actor Blagoj Veselinov convinced with his “deep and unexpected sensitivity” in the multi-award-winning Secret Ingredient.
Dawid Ogrodnik from Poland is “a young acting force to be reckoned with,” having won the jury over with his raw talent in Silent Night.
Norwegian actress Ine Marie Wilmann astounded everybody with “the physicality of her performance” in Sonja: The White Swan.
Serbian actor Milan Maric thrilled with his “gloomily charismatic, brooding and affecting” work in Dovlatov, which screened this year in competition in Berlin.
Rounding off the ten actors with his “tremendous honesty and leading-man qualities” in The Charmer is Ardalan Esmaili from Sweden.
Europen Shooting Stars is the oldest and most prestigious initiative to promote European talent for the international film market. Since its first edition in 1998, a total of 303 European Shooting Stars have been presented at this influential international film festival, proving for many an important stepping stone in their careers, including Alicia Vikander, Matthias Schoenaerts, Domhnall Gleeson, Alexander Fehling, Ruth Negga, Pilou Asbæk, Carla Juri and Baltasar Kormákur to name a few.
The event will be taking place between 8th – 11th February 2019 during the 69th Berlin International Film Festival.
