Shooting Stars
by Shelly Schoeneshoefer

The Berlinale presents the nine finest young European actors and actresses at different events and activities to give them a chance of being noticed by the international film industry. The Shooting Stars of this year are those we should be looking for in the future. The following nine were the selected shooting stars of this year along with some of their accomplishments. We certainly are looking forward to see what else they have to offer us.

Joel Basman from Switzerland is the youngest shooting star. Perhaps you have seen him in the movie Mein Name ist Eugen which played at the Hamburg Children’s film festival a couple of years back. Since he is only eighteen he has a lot of chances ahead of him with his acting since he has already proven his versatility as an actor. He was nominated for his work in the film Luftbusiness.

Nicolas Cazale from France was nominated for The Grocer’s Son. He has had amazing success after his debut in Under Another Sky. He also has acted in Spanish films as well and seems to have a natural talent in finding his roles.

Fischer Christesen from Denmark gave an award-winning performance in After the Wedding but received this nomination for her acting in the film in Echo and is currently working on a stage production.

Elio Germano from Italy was picked for his role in My Brother is an Only Child. He has been in the films Blood and Fallen Heroes and last year won the Best Actor David di Donatello prize. We will see him in a film based on the book Come Dio Comanda.

Maryam Hassouni from the Netherlands won an Emmy for her performances as a young terrorist in Sacrifices in 2005. She combines her acting career with her university studies and attended the premier of her new film Dunya & Desie here in Berlin. (Birgit, note that Shelly has a photo for her)

Hannah Herzsprung from Germany made her debut in Four Minutes where her award-winning performance as a killer set her direction in acting. Her Berlin First of Mai opened in the Perspektive Deutsches Kino section. She has now been casted in Stephen Daldry’s adaptation of The Reader. If you haven’t read this book do so; it is great and I am personally looking forward to this film!!!

Marko Igonda from Slovakia made his debut in a French film A New Life and was nominated for his acting in Nosedive which is from one of the directors in the New Hungarian Wave.

Annamaria Marinca from Romania is best known for her work in Sex Traffic where she did work in the UK. This was her cinema acting debut 4 Months 3 Weeks and 2 Days where she earned the nomination as European Actress in 2007 at the European Film Awards and Best Actress Award at the Stockholm Film Festival.

Nagy Zsolt from Hungary was nominated for his acting in the film that he also help co-write in Facing the Enemy. With his command of the English language, he has been often selected for roles from visiting foreign productions.