Demoustier replaces Sheehan as EFP Shooting Star

by Naman Ramachandran

21/12/2009 - Due to scheduling conflicts, Irish actor Robert Sheehan will no longer be able to accept his award as Ireland’s Shooting Star at the Berlin Film Festival 2010. Instead, French actress Anaïs Demoustier will be the French Shooting Star 2010.

Sheehan will be playing the lead in Killing Bono (a.k.a. I was Bono’s Doppelganger), which shoots January and February in Belfast and therefore conflicts with the Shooting Stars event. Sheehan said, “I send sincere regrets to the organisers and the judges of the Shooting Stars Award, I am, of course, hugely disappointed that I will not be able to attend this event. I was deeply honoured to be selected for this prestigious award and I send my very best wishes to all the other Shooting Stars and the festival.”

Sheehan’s loss is Demoustier’s gain. She made her debut in Michael Haneke’s The Time of the Wolf and won favourable notices in Christophe Honoré’s The Beautiful Person [trailer] and Anna Novion’s Grown Ups [trailer], the latter film also landing her a César nomination for Most Promising Actress. She has also been selected for the 2010 César for Most Promising Actress for her role in Juliette Garcias’ Be Good [trailer]. Demoustier is currently shooting Malgorzata Szumowska’s Sponsoring alongside Juliette Binoche.

Commenting on her Be Good performance, the Jury said: “This is an actress with a transfixing presence that completely dominated the film, without overwhelming the intentions of the filmmaker. While remaining an enigmatic figure, she is able to reveal the heart of this troubled girl.”