The jury for European Shooting Stars, the program that promotes rising actors from Europe, has revealed its 2025 lineup. Shooting Stars from previous editions have included Riz Ahmed, Leonie Benesch, George MacKay, Carey Mulligan, Alba Rohrwacher, Bill Skarsgård, Alicia Vikander and Maisie Williams.
The actors will be presented to the international press, film industry and public during the 75th Berlinale, which runs Feb. 13 – 23. They will take part in a tailor-made, four-day program that will culminate with an awards ceremony on Feb. 17 at the Berlinale Palast. The program is organized by European Film Promotion and is supported by Creative Europe’s MEDIA Programme of the European Union.
The 10 actors selected for its 28th edition are Marina Makris (Cyprus), Besir Zeciri (Denmark), Maarja Johanna Mägi (Estonia), Devrim Lingnau (Germany), Elín Hall (Iceland), Kārlis Arnolds Avots (Latvia), Šarūnas Zenkevičius (Lithuania), Lidija Kordić (Montenegro), Vicente Wallenstein (Portugal) and Frida Gustavsson (Sweden).
The Shooting Stars were selected by a jury comprised of Romanian director and screenwriter Radu Muntean, Swedish casting director Pauline Hansson, Swiss producer Amel Soudani, French actor and former Shooting Star Ludivine Sagnier and Montenegrin journalist and curator Vuk Perović.
Cypriot actor Makris was recently named best actress at the Cyprus Film Days International Festival for her performance in Adonis Floridis’ drama “Africa Star” (2024). The jury was attracted by her ‟magnetism” and honors Makris as a ‟brilliant, intelligent actress – she has an intense, profound look, and carries with her a womanly strength, as though she can carry the world on her shoulders.”
Born in Copenhagen and with Albanian heritage, Zeciri reflects a new diverse wave of Scandinavian actors. Having once considered a career in the police, he had his attentions diverted when joining a theater company in 2009. From there his career has blossomed, culminating in a leading role in Magnus von Horn’s “The Girl With the Needle” (2024), which premiered at Cannes, and is Denmark’s official Oscar entry. The jury lauds his ‟real presence in the film, which ensures the audience will struggle to forget him.”
Mägi is well-known to Estonian audiences, appealing to both adults and children on local television. She became known for her role in Elmo Nüganen’s film trilogy “Melchior the Apothecary” (2022), for which Mägi was awarded best film actress at the Estonian Film Awards. The jury praised her versatility, especially in her latest film “Aurora” (2025).
The jury said: “She has so many faces, but you can see the disturbed character on each of them. Her role comes with religious rigidity, transpiring in her emancipation as she inspires a revolution inside her own family, and she portrays this with the strength of a hurricane.”
German actor Lingnau was born in Mannheim to a Turkish father and a German mother. Lingnau impressed in British horror film “Carmilla” (2019) and she is also the face of the Emmy-winning Netflix drama series “The Empress” (2022), which won her the best newcomer award at the German Screen Actor Awards. Her next major role is in Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay’s thriller “Hysteria” (2025), in which, according to the jury, ‟she is so involved in the character and yet you don’t see any tools, or techniques. It’s as if she is living in the moment, like she hasn’t read a script, just embedded in the truth of the story.”
Born in Canada, Hall from Iceland began to showcase her ability in the likes of “Let Me Fall” (2018) and “Cold” (2023). Her performance exploring the complexity of grief in Rúnar Rúnarsson’s “When the Light Breaks” (2024), which opened the Un Certain Regard strand at Cannes, has landed her numerous awards. Hall ‟internalizes the character and you’re drawn to her; you never get tired of her. She is carrying a secret in the film, and it’s like the viewer is her sole confidante,” the jury said. Elín also straddles the line between music and film, with two albums to her name.
Latvian actor Avots is building a career through challenging roles. Having starred in Viesturs Kairisš’ “January” (2022), which was submitted as Latvia’s official entry for the Academy Awards, it won Avots the best actor award at the Rome Film Festival. He took home the top actor prize at Series Mania in Lille for his performance in “Soviet Jeans” (2024), which also convinced the Shooting Stars jury.
‟His performance shows that he is equally adept at comedy as he is tragedy; he brings humor to the role, but he suffers a lot. He is energetic, and yet sensitive,” the jury said.
The Lithuanian actor Zenkevičius has starred in such films as “Frost” (2017), which premiered at Cannes, and “The Flood Won’t Come” (2020), which bowed in Venice. Other notable works include the short film “I Was Max” (2022) and his leading role in Ignas Jonynas’s “Borderline” (2025), where he plays a troubled ornithologist who gets involved in smuggling.
His performance wowed the jury: “While the intensity rises in the film, he keeps all that tension inside him, without bursting. It’s very easy to be melodramatic, which he avoids. Instead, he contains all the energy, and he is like a bomb that is waiting to explode.”
Kordić from Montenegro started acting professionally while still studying at drama school. After starring roles in “Working Class Goes to Hell” (2023) on home soil and Turkish production “Ataturk 1881-1919” (2023), Kordić can next be seen in Italian feature “Diva Futura” (2025).
The jury considers Kordić courageous and praises her “charming and charismatic performance” in this sumptuous period piece that sees the actor play the famous adult film star Cicciolina.
This year was a good for Portuguese actor Wallenstein having taken a starring role in Luis Filipe Rocha’s “Your Face Will be the Last,” which also allowed him to display his talents as a pianist.
The jury recognizes Wallenstein’s “richness of diverse characters and his distinct versatility” and lauds his performance “displaying the struggles and trauma within his character with a subtle sensitivity.”
Last year also saw Wallenstein appear in both “Romagem” and “After Dance – a Concert Film.” He also had a brief appearance in “Paddington in Peru.”
Gustavsson hails from Sweden and belongs to the Bergmanian school of performance. This much is evident in her complex turn as Marieanne in drama series “Faithless” (2024), which is based on an original script by the legendary filmmaker, resulting in rave reviews since its premiere at Toronto.
The jury, who characterizes her as a ‟charismatic and magnetic performer,” is also full of praise: “Even when doing nothing she is vibrant. Her performance in ‘Faithless’ presents a difficult challenge, but she tackles the role with such subtlety, and intimacy. She uses minimalistic ways to express very strong feelings.”
Other credits include supporting roles in major shows such as “Vikings: Valhalla” (2022), and Netflix’s “The Witcher” (2019). Gustavsson also impressed in Swedish Oscar-entry “Tigers” (2020), while her next project sees her share the screen with Joel Kinnaman in “Ice Fall” (2025).
English (US) ·