Ten up-and-coming European acting talents unveiled for European Film Promotion’s Shooting Stars showcase at next year’s Berlinale.

Danish actor Mikkel Boe Følsgaard and Germany’s Saskia Rosendahl [pictured] are among ten up-and-coming European acting talents which have been selected from a ‘longlist’ of 27 candidates – four more than last year – for European Film Promotion’s Shooting Stars showcase at next February’s Berlinale.

An international jury of film professionals, comprising Italian actress and former Shooting Star Alba Rohrwacher (Dormant Beauty), Bosnian director Jasmila Žbanić (Grbavica), German producer Bettina Brokemper (Nymphomaniac), UK casting director Jina Jay (Anna Karenina) and French film journalist Thierry Chèze (Studio Ciné Live), chose the following lineup of seven actresses and three actors from across Europe for the 2013 edition of Shooting Stars:

Denmark: Mikkel Boe Følsgaard (A Royal Affair)
Finland: Laura Birn (Purge)
France: Christa Theret (La Brindille)
Germany: Saskia Rosendahl (Lore)
Italy: Luca Marinelli (Every Blessed Day)
Republic of Kosovo: Arta Dobroshi (Three Worlds)
Romania: Ada Condeescu (Loverboy)
Slovenia: Jure Henigman (A Trip)
Sweden: Nermina Lukač (Eat Sleep Die)
Switzerland: Carla Juri (Someone Like Me)

Western Europe again dominates the selection with seven talents, with Eastern Europe represented by three actors from Romania, Slovenia and Kosovo, although Sweden’s Nermina Lukač was born in Montenegro.

Commenting on its selection, the jury said that it had been “unanimously impressed” by this year’s nominees. “It is a perfect mix between astonishing newcomers and talents we had already seen before, but who have taken their careers to a new level this year. The selection process was not easy and we had tough choices to make.”

Last year, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard was the first Dane ever to be awarded a Best Actor Silver Bear at the Berlinale for his performance as King Christian VII in Nicolaj Arcel’s A Royal Affair, while Germany’s 19-year-old Saskia Rosendahl became known to a wider international audience with her title role in Cate Shortland’s Lore which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival in August.

France’s Theret could recently be seen in Jean-Pierre Ameris’ Victor Hugo adaptation L’Homme Qui Rit which premiered in Venice, Italy’s Luca Marinelli is now headlining Paolo Virzi’s romantic comedy Every Blessed Day, and Kosovar actress Arta Dobroshi – discovered by the Dardenne brothers for Lorna’s Silence – received the Best Actress Award at Prishtina’s Prifilmfest in September for her performance in Catherine Corsini-France’s Three Worlds.

In addition, Swiss actress Carla Juri received two Swiss Film Prizes for her roles in Someone Like Me and 180º, and has just completed work on David Wnendt’s new feature Feuchtgebiete. Sweden’s Nermina Lukač had no acting experience when she was cast in Gabriela Pichler’s debut Eat Sleep Die, while Romania’s Ada Condeescu’s first three film acting roles have been leads in Florin Serban’s award-winning If I Want To Whistle, I Whistle, Cătălin Mitulescu’s Loverboy and Bogdan Mustata’s feature debut Wolf.

Meanwhile, Slovenia’s Jure Henigman has been reunited with A Trip director Nejc Gazvoda for his new film, the love story Dual.

Now in its 16th year, Shooting Stars has been celebrating Europe’s young acting talent at the Berlinale since 1998 and to date has showcased over 240 “new faces” such as Andrea Riseborough, David Kross, Ana Geislerova, Daniel Brühl, Tómas Lemarquis and Ludivine Sagnier.

The three-day event from Feb 9-11 includes one-to-one meetings with casting directors, photoshoots, a press conference with the international media and a workshop. It will culminate with the presentation of the Shooting Stars Award to the ten young talents by Shooting Stars’ main sponsor for 2013 the Chinese jewellery company Tesiro on the stage of the Berlinale Palast.