Shooting Stars 2010
by Birgit Schrumpf
Shooting Stars is a unique pan-European initiative which helps to put emerging new acting talent at the forefront of the Berlinale entertainment agenda and to open the door to work abroad. Promising young actors and actresses have been nominated by film organisations associated in the European Film Promotion (EFP) since 1998. A lot of attention is given to the potential international career of the Shooting Stars, including presenting them to leading filmmakers, the world press and important international casting directors. The Shooting Stars Award Ceremony is the highlight of this initiative. Each year the main sponsor, Studio Babelsberg, is donating ten statuettes of Fritz Lang’s Maria from the famous film Metropolis which was produced in the Babelsberg studios in 1927.
A number of former Shooting Stars from the Berlinale became world-famous film stars later, such as British actor Daniel Craig (playing James Bond in the latest Bond films), Franka Potente and Daniel Brühl, to name a few. English actress Carey Mulligan, last year’s Shooting Star, received the British Academy Orange Film Award for her role in An Education (2009) which also earned her an Oscar nomination. At this year's Berlinale, a range of former Shooting Stars could be seen in films selected for the Berlinale Competition such as Moritiz Bleibreu (Germany 1999) in Jew Suess – Rise and Fall (Jud Süß – Film ohne Gewissen), Jakob Oedergren (Denmark 2005) in Submarino and Franziska Weisx (Austria 2005) in The Robber (Der Räuber).
All of the selected actors have been chosen for their outstanding work in feature films and are encouraged to see themselves as the new ambassadors for European cinema. Out of the 21 nominees the five members of the jury from Germany, United Kingdom, USA, Czech Republic and Italy, have chosen the following ten Shooting Stars for 2010:
Croatia - Zrinka Cvitešic
Czech Republic - Kryštof Hádek
Finland - Pihla Viitala
Ireland - Robert Sheehan
Italy - Michele Riondino
Norway - Anders Baasmo Christiansen
Netherlands - Lotte Verbeek
Poland - Agata Buzek
Romania - Dragos Bucur
United Kingdom - Edward Hogg
