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EUROPEAN SHOOTING STARS 2021

EFP presents the 2021 European Shooting Stars

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- Due to the Berlinale adapting to the current health crisis, the programme of events prepared for the ten promising actors and actresses from Europe selected will be online

EFP presents the 2021 European Shooting Stars

EFP (European Film Promotion) has announced the ten European Shooting Stars of 2021. For the first time, EFP will present the ten emerging European actors to the film industry, public and international press as part of a three-day online programme. The 24th edition of the initiative will take place digitally, from 23 to 25 February 2021, one week before the industry events of this year’s 71st Berlin International Film Festival (1–5 March). The Shooting Stars Award Ceremony will take place in the framework of the Berlinale screenings in the summer. This brand-new model is directly related to the adaptation of the Berlinale to the current COVID-19 situation (read news).

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"Although this year we sadly cannot meet in person, we invite you to join, discover and celebrate the best in rising European acting talent, while staying safe at home. We are thrilled that we have been able to create a digital experience via our online 'Home of Acting Talent’ , that will open its doors and emulate the spirit of our annual physical events by offering 3 days of specially-curated press, industry and public-facing promotion and networking activities for this year’s chosen talent”, says EFP’s Managing Director Sonja Heinen.

The outstanding talents were selected by a jury of industry experts (read news), and are Seidi Haarla (Finland), Nicolas Maury (France), Albrecht Schuch (Germany), Natasa Stork (Hungary), Fionn O’Shea (Ireland), Žygimantė Elena Jakštaitė (Lithuania), Martijn Lakemeier (The Netherlands), Sara Klimoska (North Macedonia), Alba Baptista (Portugal) and Gustav Lindh (Sweden).

Seidi Haarla from Finland swayed the jury by giving ″…an intuitive, honest and understated performance that is imbued with a compelling sense of gravity” in her first major leading role, in Juho Kuosmanen’s upcoming Compartment No 6 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Juho Kuosmanen
film profile
]
.

The jury ascribed ″star quality” to French actor Nicolas Maury and they were impressed by his ″outstanding performance” in his feature film debut in My Best Part [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nicolas Maury
interview: Nicolas Maury
film profile
]
, which was awarded the 2020 Cannes Official Selection Label.

Albrecht Schuch from Germany, whose credits include feature films such as Burhan Qurbani's Berlin Alexanderplatz [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Burhan Qurbani
film profile
]
, Nora Fingscheidt's System Crasher [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nora Fingscheidt
film profile
]
and Dominik Graf’s upcoming Fabian - Going to the Dogs [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Albrecht Schuch
film profile
]
and TV series Bad Banks, impressed the jury with ″….a clear willingness to push himself to the limit and beyond.”

Natasa Stork from Hungary convinced with her ″intoxicating and enigmatic presence″ in Lili Horvát’s Preparations To Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lili Horvat
interview: Natasa Stork
film profile
]
, her debut lead in a feature film, for which she won the Best Actress awards at film festivals in Antalya, Valladolid and Les Arcs.

The youngest actor of this year’s edition is Fionn O’Shea from Ireland, whose work ″… has an ebullience and winsome charm yet, at the same time, misery and rage are always bubbling just below the surface” as seen in his performance in David Freyne's Dating Amber [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fionn O'Shea
film profile
]
and series Normal People.

For her first leading role in Andrius Blaževičius’ upcoming second feature film Runner [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andrius Blaževičius
film profile
]
, Žygimantė Elena Jakštaitė from Lithuania received high praise from the experts: ″Elena proves a force of nature, full of passion and raw energy that virtually leaps off the screen”.

Well-known for his role in the most critically-acclaimed Dutch TV series in years, Dutch Hope, Martijn Lakemeier from the Netherlands is also the youngest winner of the Golden Calf Award for his acting debut in Winter in Wartime [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
. He enthused the jury with his ″emotionally captivating performance” in Jim Taihuttu's upcoming The East [+see also:
interview: Martijn Lakemeier
film profile
]
.

The performance of award-winning actress Sara Klimoska from North Macedonia is “a revelation in the truest sense of the word, with an emotional depth that belies her years…” excellently depicted in Igor Aleksov’s feature film debut Lena and Vladimir, which will be released this year.

Portugal’s Alba Baptista’s ″…self-effacing humour” drew the jury in “…so unexpectedly and strongly”. At 23, the youngest actress of this year's selection plays the lead in the TV series Warrior Nun. The jury is confident about her ″star potential – the size of which is clearly enormous”.

For his role in May el-Toukhy's Queen of Hearts [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gustav Lindh
interview: May el-Toukhy
film profile
]
, the Swedish actor Gustav Lindh received a Danish national film critics’ Bodil Award for Best Supporting Actor and was nominated for Best Leading Actor at the Danish Film Academy’s Robert Awards ceremony in 2020. With his performance in the upcoming Orca by Josephine Bornebusch, he convinced the jury with ″…a unique and fearless performance, that is both humble and layered”.

Read more about each European Shooting Star and the full events programme here, and stay tuned to watch our interviews with all of them.

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