14/12/2023 - Ten of the most promising up-and-coming actors and actresses from Europe have been selected to participate in special events at the upcoming Berlinale in February

EFP (European Film Promotion) has announced the up-and-coming acting talent who have been selected for the next edition of European Shooting Stars. They will be introduced to the international press, film industry and the audience during the 74th Berlin International Film Festival. The four-day tailormade promotion and networking programme (running from 16 to 19 February 2024) is capped off with a celebration of the talent at an awards ceremony at the Berlinale Palast. The seven actresses and three actors were selected from a pool of 27 nominees by an international jury made of five experts (read news) who recognised the talents' remarkable potential for an international career.

"We are thrilled to present such a diverse selection of talented up-and-coming actors and actresses hailing from diverse cultural backgrounds and professional experiences. Many thanks to the Jury for taking on the challenge to spot this year's nominees, and for embracing their international potential. We would also like to thank the European national film promotion institutes and film centres - our members - for putting forth so many stellar nominees and giving us the opportunity to continue to discover Europe's diverse array of emerging acting talent", says Tina Hajon, programme director of European Shooting Stars.

The European Shooting Stars 2024 are Thibaud Dooms (Belgium), Margarita Stoykova (Bulgaria), Suzy Bemba (France), Salome Demuria (Georgia), Katharina Stark (Germany), Éanna Hardwicke (Ireland), Valentina Bellè (Italy), Dziugas Grinys (Lithuania), Kamila Urzedowska (Poland) and Asta Kamma August (Sweden).

Thibaud Dooms from Belgium is a graduate of the Academy of Theatre and Dance in Amsterdam and works in both theatre and film. The jury was impressed by his performance as Liam in Koen Mortier's feature film Skunk [+see also:
film review
interview: Thibaud Dooms
film profile].

Her first role in the feature film Yana Titova's Dyad [+see also:
film review
interview: Yana Titova
film profile] earned the Bulgarian 18-year-old Margarita Stoykova accolades and awards, four alone at the Golden Rose Film Festival, including Best Film and the City of Varna Award for her performance.

French actress Suzy Bemba initially studied to become a surgeon, but then discovered a deep passion for cinema. She has appeared in films and series such as L'Opera, created by Cécile Ducrocq and Benjamin Adam, Poor Things [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Suzy Bemba
Q&A: Yorgos Lanthimos
film profile] by Yorgos Lanthimos and Drift [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Anthony Chen. Her performance in Catherine Corsini's Homecoming [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Catherine Corsini
interview: Suzy Bemba
film profile] deeply touched the jury.

Salome Demuria is a well-known actress in her home country of Georgia. She made her debut in 2012 with the Spanish-Georgian co-production Seagull [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. Salome was honoured as best actress at the Shanghai International Film Festival, the Almaty Independent Film Festival and the Minsk International Film Festival for her role in Dito Tsintsadze's Inhale-Exhale [+see also:
interview: Salome Demuria
film profile]. She won over the jury in the upcoming Rusudan Glurjidze's The [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rusudan Glurjidze
film profile] Antique [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rusudan Glurjidze
film profile].

German actress Katharina Stark is a graduate of the renowned Otto Falckenberg School in Munich. Throughout her studies, she appeared in numerous television shows, films (such as Anna Roller's feature film Dead Girls Dancing [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Katarina Stark
film profile]) and plays, often on stage at the award-winning Theatre Münchner Kammerspiele. Katharina is currently starring as the Polish interpreter Eva Bruhns in the German Disney+ original mini-series The Interpreter of Silence [+see also:
interview: Katarina Stark
series profile], based on the novel by Annette Hess, directed by Isabel Prahl and Randa Chahoud.

Immediately after graduating from the The Lír Academy in Dublin, Irish actor Éanna Hardwicke plunged into the film world and starred alongside Jesse Eisenberg in the feature film Vivarium [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lorcan Finnegan
film profile]; with Seána Kerslake and Ayoola Smart in the TV series Smother; and with Isabelle Huppert in Laurent Lariviere's feature film About Joan [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laurent Larivière
film profile]. For his role as a Gaelic footballer in Robert Higgins and Patrick McGivney's Lakelands, the jury recognises Éanna's "star quality".

The Italian actress Valentina Bellè starred in two competition films at the Venice Festival this year: Michael Mann's Ferrari [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Valentina Bellè
film profile] and Giorgio Diritti's Lubo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Giorgio Diritti
interview: Giorgio Diritti
interview: Valentina Bellè
film profile]. She plays the leading role in the award-winning and highly acclaimed Disney + series The Good Mothers, for which she won the Italian Nastro D'Argento award for supporting actress in 2023.

With his Theatre Art degree in hand, Lithuanian born Dziugas Grinys embarked on a wide-ranging stage career over a five-year period. He also proved his on-screen skills in supporting roles in films by Robertas Kuliunas (As Gyvas), Algimantas Puipa (Cinephilia) and Kristijonas Vildziunas (Songs for a Fox [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Džiugas Grinys
interview: Kristijonas Vildziunas
film profile]). Dziugas successfully made the leap to the big screen with his first leading role in Ignas Miskinis' upcoming Southern Chronicles.

Polish actress Kamila Urzedowska played her first leading role in the Canal+ series Zmijowisko by Lukasz Palkowski. For her performance in the Polish Academy Award entry as Best International Feature Film, The Peasants [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by DK Welchman and Hugh Welchman, she was honoured with the Crystal Star Elle and the Chopard Loves Cinema Acting Debut Award at the 48th Polish Film Festival in Gdynia.

Graduating from the Danish National School of Performing Arts in 2017, Swedish actress Asta Kamma August swiftly gained recognition for her performances in a variety of cinematic and television productions. Her recent projects include leading roles in Kalak [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Asta Kamma August
interview: Isabella Eklöf
film profile] helmed by Isabella Eklöf which premiered and won two awards at San Sebastian Film Festival and The Hypnosis [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Asta Kamma August
interview: Ernst De Geer
film profile] directed by Ernst de Geer which premiered at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2023.

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