Ten of Europe’s hottest young acting talents were unveiled Thursday, with the announcement of the 2020 European Shooting Stars.
The talent scouts at European Film Promotion selected up-and-coming actors and actresses on the cusp of their international breakthrough.
The Shooting Stars class of 2020 includes French actress Zita Hanrot, star of local hit School Life as well as the voice of Zunaira in animated Oscar contender The Swallows of Kabul; Portuguese star Joana Ribeiro, currently shooting, alongside Mark Wahlberg and Chiwetel Ejiofor, Antoine Fuqua’s new TV series, Infinite; and German actor Jonas Dassler, whose transformative performance as serial killer Fritz Honka in Fatih Akin’s The Golden Glove wowed audiences at the Berlin Film Festival last year.
Joining them is Victoria Carmen Sonne from Denmark, who had her breakout role in Sundance drama Holiday from director Isabella Eklo?f; first-timer Levan Gelbakhiani from Georgia, who trained as a classical ballet dancer before being cast in the lead of Levan Akin’s Cannes drama And Then We Danced; and Bartosz Bielenia from Poland, star of Jan Komasa’s Corpus Christi, one of the films shortlisted for this year’s international feature Oscar.
Swiss actress Ella Rumpf (Raw), Dutch actor Bilal Wahib (Layla M.), Martina Apostolova of Bulgaria (Irina) and Estonian actor Pa?a?ru Oja (Mihkel) complete this year’s class of Shooting Stars.
The 10 talents will be introduced to international casting directors, producers and filmmakers at this year’s Berlin Film Festival from Feb. 21-24.
The European Shooting Stars program, in operation since 1998, has an impressive track record in spotting breakout talent. Former Euro “Stars” include Alicia Vikander, Carey Mulligan, Riz Ahmed, Marwan Kenzari and George MacKay.
