10 European Shooting Stars Honored for Hybrid 25th Anniversary [EN]

10 European Shooting Stars Honored for Hybrid 25th Anniversary variety.com/lists/10-european-actors-shooting-stars-berlin-film-festival February 7, 2022

Ahmad: Simon Birk/Netflix; Sakraya: Marius Knieling; Vartolomei: Carole Bellaiche

France’s Anamaria Vartolomei, star of Audrey Diwan’s Venice Golden Lion winner “Happening”; Ireland’s Clare Dunne, whose character in AMC’s Dublin-set series “Kin” has been dubbed “the female Tony Soprano”; and Croatia’s Gracija Filipovic, who made a splash in Alamat Kusijanovic’s “Murina,” winner of the 2021 Cannes Camera d’Or, are among the 10 young actors selected by European Film Promotion for the 25th anniversary edition of European Shooting Stars.

Due to coronavirus concerns, EFP, which is the umbrella organization of national film agencies across Europe, will shine a spotlight on these standout talents with a hybrid event culminating with an in-person red carpet awards ceremony Feb. 14 in Berlin during the film festival.

This year’s Shooting Stars roster — seven women, three men — was picked from a pool of nominations by a jury comprising Swedish-Georgian filmmaker Levan Akin; Timka Grin, who is president of the Intl. Casting Directors’ Network (ICDN) and is from Bosnia and Herzegovina; former Italian Shooting Star Sara Serraiocco; producer Bernard Michaux, who is from Luxembourg; and Germany-based film scholar and curator Yun-hua Chen.

Evin Ahmad (Sweden) Photo : Courtesy of Simon Birk/Netflix This Swedish-Kurdish actor and writer has been on a roll since 2018 when she broke out by playing Mirja, a teenager who must find her place in the world after serving jail time in the film ”Dröm Vidare” (“Beyond Dreams”). Then came key parts in Netflix Nordic 1/4

originals ”Quicksand” and ”The Rain,” followed by a career-defining role in Swedish Netflix Original series “Snabba Cash,” in which she plays a young single mom who becomes entangled in crime. “She exudes strength, resilience, vulnerability, as well as a self-aware sense of humor,” said the jury. Ahmad’s first novel, “One Day I Will Build a Castle of Money,” was published in 2017.

Clare Dunne (Ireland) Photo : Courtesy of Matthew Thompson Dunne, a graduate of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and a well-established theater actors, elicited particular praise for her performance as Amanda Kinsella, a role dubbed as “the female Tony Soprano” in the AMC Plus/RTE crime thriller series “Kin.” It follows her lead part as Sandra — who goes from battered wife to building her dream house after escaping an abusive marriage — in Phyllida Lloyd’s film “Herself,” which she also co-wrote. She also recently appeared in Ridley Scott’s “The Last Duel.” ”At once sophisticated, firm, and moldable, she succeeds in nuancing the female psyche,” the jury said.

Gracija Filipović (Croatia) Photo : Courtesy of Neja Markičević Filipović recently made a splash with 2021 Cannes Camera d’Or winner “Murina,” her first feature film role, in which she plays a young woman learning how to use her sensuality to secure freedom from an abusive father during a sunny summer on a Croatian island. “Evoking the image of a mermaid, she seamlessly alternates between wildness and gentleness, girlishness and sensuality, and fearlessly pulls off all the complexities of her role,” the jury said. “Murina” segues from Filipović’s role in similarly themed short “Into the Blue” by the same director, Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic. Aside from her promising acting career, Filipović is a professional swimmer and tap dancer.

João Nunes Monteiro (Portugal) Photo : Courtesy of Filipe Ferreira Nunes Monteiro impressed the jury with the “quiet intensity and respectful authenticity” of his performances. He most recently impressed in João Nuno Pinto’s 2020 “Mosquito,” as a young Portuguese soldier who arrives in Mozambique in 1917 dreaming of battlefield glory only to find himself ill with malaria and left behind. He also starred in Marueen Fazendeiro’s comic COVID-era faux-documentary “The Tsugua Diaries,” which chronicles a film shoot during the pandemic and premiered last year at Cannes in Directors’ Fortnight. “Almost like a fairy or a mythical creature, he is a chameleon whose performance is always perfectly fitting regardless of each project’s idiosyncrasies,” the jury said.

2/4

Marie Reuther (Denmark) Photo : Courtesy of Adam Wallensten Reuther is drawing praise with her transformative debut performance in Danish thriller series “Kamikaze” in which she plays an 18-year-old determined to fully understand what her family went through during a fatal plane crash. Reuther’s role in the eight-episode show, which is HBO Max’s first Nordic original, required that she appear in almost every shot, displaying emotions that range from desperation to rebirth. “Her face can express a multitude of feelings in a layered and versatile way,” said the jury, noting that Reuther can “portray an angel and a tough cookie interchangeably.” She recently debuted at the Royal Danish Theatre in Molière’s “The Imaginary Invalid.”

Emilio Sakraya (Germany) Photo : Courtesy of Marius Knieling Sakraya has been acting since he was 9. As a child he had a recurring role in German kiddie film franchise “Bibi and Tina.” Then in 2016 he was cast in hit German gangster drama “4 Blocks,” and subsequently got the part of JC, the ringleader of a band of petty criminals, in Netflix series “Warrior Nun.” Another meaty part in Netflix’s postapocalyptic ”Tribes of Europa” followed. But the jury, which praised his “charisma, openness, and sincerity,” selected Sakraya for his turn as a 17-year-old diagnosed as bipolar and sent to a psychiatric center in Til Schweiger’s “The Salvation of the World as We Know It.” He will be playing the lead — a rapper named Xatar — in Fatih Akin’s upcoming feature “Rheingold.”

Timon Šturbej(Slovenia) Photo : Courtesy of Peter Uhan The jury praised Sturbej’s ability to “amalgamate himself with each role in a creative and genuine way” and selected him for his past work playing a macho bully nicknamed Zele in Darko Stante’s “Consequences” and for his roles in upcoming pics “Riders/Spring Dreaming” by Dominik Mencej — that will be released later this year — about two friends from a small Slovenian village who transform their mopeds into choppers and embark on a journey; and in memory loss drama “Wake Me,” directed by Marko Šantić. Sturbej is currently shooting TV docudrama miniseries “Inhumanum: The Inhumanity of Many,” directed by Igor Zupe.

Anamaria Vartolomei (France) Photo : Courtesy of Carole Bellaiche

3/4

Vartolomei started her acting career at age 11 appearing alongside Isabelle Huppert in “My Little Princess,” and has barely stopped since. In 2014 she appeared in “Jacky in the Kingdom of Women,” directed by Riad Sattouf, with Charlotte Gainsbourg. In 2016 Vartolomei was cast in Tran Anh Hung’s “Eternity” with Bérénice Béjo, Audrey Tautou and Mélanie Laurent. In 2017 she starred opposite Lambert Wilson in the historical drama “The Royal Exchange,” directed by Marc Dugain. More recently, Vartolomei has put in a tour-de-force perf as gifted literature student Anne in Audrey Diwan’s abortion drama “Happening,” which won the Venice Golden Lion. The jury praised her “readiness to push herself to the limits.”

Hanna van Vliet (The Netherlands) Photo : Courtesy of Kiet Duong A passionate advocate for broad representation of female leads and queer characters in the Dutch industry, Van Vliet co-created series “Anne+,” about a 20-something dating other girls in Amsterdam. It was spun-off into a feature film directed by Valerie Bisscheroux, in which she also plays the lead. Her other recent roles include a young mother torn between taking care of her daughter and her own mother in Margot Schaap’s “Quicksand.” She will soon be seen in female-driven World War II drama ”Lost Transport,” and series “De Droom van de Jeugd” (“Childhood Dreams”). “Projecting a lot of warmth and charm, Van Vliet is able to connect with the audience in a down-to-earth and everyday manner,” said the jury.

Souheila Yacoub (Switzerland) Photo : Courtesy of James Weston Yacoub broke out playing a member of the demonic dance troupe in Gaspard Noé’s “Climax,” which premiered in Cannes in 2019, and in Philippe Garrel’s 2020 drama “The Salt of Tears.” She has the distinction of having been at Cannes last year with two films in which she plays the lead: “A Brighter Tomorrow” (“De bas étage”) by Yassine Qnia, and female friendship drama “The Braves” by Anaïs Volpe. The jury praised her for being “a revelation and a shooting star in the truest sense.” This year, Yacoub will appear in Cédric Klapisch’s dance-based film “En corps! and in Alice and Benoît Zeniter’s first feature film “Avant l’effondrement.”

4/4