It’s that time of year again, a whole year has passed and the European Film Promotion has revealed their pick of the top 10 European Shooting Stars for 2020.
The 23rd edition of EFP’s talent promotion programme will present ten of the best up-and-coming young actresses and actors from Europe from the 21 – 24 February 2020 to the film industry, public and international press during the 70th Berlin International Film Festival which will be held between the 20 February – 1 March 2020.
The oldest and most efficient Europe-wide initiative to cast a spotlight on the most talented, up-and-coming actresses and actors since its 1998 inception the initiative has given a spotlight to a few names who have gone on to become household names. These include Carey Mulligan (Mudbound), Alba Rohrwacher (Happy as Lazzaro), Oscar-winner Alicia Vikander (Tomb Raider), Pilou Asbaek (Game of Thrones), Riz Ahmed (The Sisters Brothers), Marwan Kenzari (Instinct) and George MacKay (1917).
Selected by a jury of industry experts from a staggering 28 nominations, most of the talent are already award-winning in their home countries. So let’s take a look at this years lucky 10 from a number of different European countries.
Also in news – Awkwafina and Jack Lowden among the 2020 EE Bafta Rising Star Nominees
Martina Apostolova
The Bulgarian actress “lends her characters an archetypal power that can connect with all audiences” in Irina (2018), for which she won numerous Best Actress awards from Hong Kong to Tbilisi.
Pääru Oja
The actor from Estonia starred in the 2018 film Mihkel, his performance was said to show “the soul of a boy that shines in Pääru Oja.you always can find this infectious vitality with him.”
Victoria Carmen Sonne
The Danish actress “counters and transforms, challenges with grace, innocence and undaunted levity” as seen in Holiday (2018) for which she received the Danish Bodil Award and a nomination for the Danish Film Award among others.
Zita Hanrot
The French actress convinced the jury because she “embodies and radiates a pure and primal force” as seen in the social drama School Life (2019).
Levan Gelbakhiani
The actor from Georgia made his debut in And Then We Danced (2019), which garnered rave reviews and numerous awards. He also received praise from the experts: “At only 21-years-old, he is already a master of a physical elegance and psychological sensitivity”.
Jonas Dassler
The actor from Germany plays a serial killer in The Golden Glove (2019), nominated for the German Film Awards, was selected for his “commanding physical presence, bravery and sophistication.”
Bilal Wahib
Hailing from The Netherlands, at the tender age of just 20 years old, Wahib is this year’s youngest Shooting Star, but already an old hand at acting. He started acting at 13 and this year already took on leading roles in two Dutch productions, among them Paradise Drifters (2019), which will premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in the Generation section. Watching his performance the jury was “touched by his childlike gentleness, riveted by his raw ferocity, shaken up by his genuine fears”.
Bartosz Bielenia
Coming from Poland, Bielenia plays the multi-award-winning lead in this year’s shortlisted Polish Oscar nomination Corpus Christi (2019) won the jury over by the way he “with his seemingly infinite faculties.walks the maddening paths of despair and redemption.”
Joana Ribeiro
The Portuguese actress has already worked with Antoine Fuqua and Terry Gilliam, the experts discovered a “spellbinding universe of enchantment and passion, anger and affection” as seen in Crooked Lines (2019).
Ella Rumpf
Finally, the Swiss actress enthused the jury with her versatility. “The world is a stage for this chameleon-like performer that plays both her body and soul like instruments.” A quality proven by her very diverse roles including the film she was nominated with, Sympathy for the Devil (2018).
The members of the 2020 jury are: British casting director Lucy Bevan, Finnish director Dome Karukoski, producer Katarína Krnácová from Slovakia, former Bulgarian Shooting Star turned director Vesela Kazakova, and film journalist Rüdiger Sturm from Germany.
We’ll be in Berlin for our regular interviews with the new cohort, so watch out for those in due course.
Photo credits:
Joana Ribeiro © Ricardo Santos; Bilal Wahib © Frank Ruiter; Ella Rumpf © Andreas Lumineau; Levan Gelbakhiani © Natalia Ghlonti; Zita Hanrot © Marcel Hartmann for Netflix; Jonas Dassler © Stefan Klüter; Martina Apostolova © Konstantsa Getzova; Pääru Oja © Riina Varol; Victoria Carmen Sonne © Martin Dam Kristensen; Bartosz Bielenia © Sonja Orlewicz – Zakrzewska
