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European Shooting Stars 2016

Cineuropa met up with EFP's Shooting Stars, 10 of the most promising young actors from all over Europe selected by a jury of film industry professionals

European Shooting Stars 2016

Each year, EFP selects the Shooting Stars, 10 of the most promising young actors from all over Europe, through a select jury of film industry professionals, because of the talent and potential the actors and actresses showcase in their performances. Cineuropa has met up with each talent during the Berlinale, and interviewed them.

MARTHA CANGA ANTONIO (Belgium)

Martha da Rosa Canga Antonio was picked from 450 youngsters auditioning for the lead role as 15-year-old Mavela in Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah's second feature Black. On the film's premiere in Toronto, Indiewire named her as "one of nine up-and-coming actors to watch" for her performance as a girl falling head over heels in love with a boy from a rival gang in the contemporary take on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

ATLI ÓSKAR FJALARSSON (Iceland)

A summer job as a dubbing actor for cartoons and films at the age of 12 subsequently led to Atli Óskar Fjalarsson starring in Rúnar Rúnarsson's award-winning short 2 Birds two years later. He then made his feature acting debut in Baldvin Z's Jitters and followed this with roles in films, TV shows and shorts. Atli -who is now studying acting in Los Angeles- was reunited with Rúnarsson to portray the angsty teen Ari in the director's second feature Sparrows which premiered in Toronto last September.

JELLA HAASE (Germany)

Jella Haase made her cinema acting debut with lead roles in Lollipop Monster and Combat Girls, which together earned her a Bavarian Film Prize as Best Newcomer Actress in 2012. She has since become known to millions of cinema-goers as the white trash schoolgirl Chantal in Bora Dagtekin's two Suck Me Shakespeer films, receiving a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the 2014 German Film Awards. Currently, Jella can be seen in a lead in 4Kings by Theresa von Eltz and was recently cast in the Swedish feature film Young Sophie Bell and the international TV series The Team.

LOU DE LAÂGE (France)

Nominated on two occasions by the French Academy Awards as Most Promising Actress for her performances in Christian Duguay's Jappeloup and Mélanie Laurent's Breathe, Lou de Laâge appeared opposite Juliette Binoche in Paolo Sorrentino's former assistant Piero Messina's directorial debut The Wait which premiered in competition at last year's Venice Film Festival. She was also cast in the lead role in the French-Polish co-production Agnus Dei by Anne Fontaine, in which she plays a young Red Cross doctor. Agnus Dei premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2016.

TIHANA LAZOVIC (Croatia)

A graduate of Zagreb's Academy of Dramatic Art, Tihana Lazovic won Best Actress at the 2015 Pula Film Festival (Golden Arena Award) and the Cottbus Film Festival for her role in the three stories of Dalibor Matanic's The High Sun. She made her screen acting debut in Vinko Brešan's hit comedy The Priest's Children, following it with an acclaimed first starring role in Lukas Nola's Hush, which won her Best Debut Role at Pula. In addition to her film work, Tihana works in the theatre and is the lead singer of the jazz band One, Two, Trio and Tihana Lazovic.

KACEY MOTTET KLEIN (Switzerland)

Kacey Mottet Klein made his screen acting debut at the age of ten in Ursula Meier's Home, winning a Swiss Film Award for Best Emerging Talent. He followed this with another Swiss Film Award for Best Actor and a César nomination for the lead in Meier's Sister. He became known to a wider audience in France after portraying the young Serge Gainsbourg in Gainsbourg. At 16, Kacey decided to concentrate on his acting career and has since played leads for films by Guillaume Senez, Christine Carrière and André Téchiné.

DAPHNÉ PATAKIA (Greece)

Daphné Patakia graduated from the Greek National Theatre in 2013 and has since appeared in major stage productions in Greece. She is known for Yorgos Zois' Interruption. The film premiered in the Orizzonti sidebar of the 2015 Venice Film Festival. Since her screen acting debut, she had been in a lead role as a female gang member in Constantine Giannaris' new film Spring Awakening (in post-production) as well as a supporting role as a prostitute in Alexandros Voulgaris' upcoming feature film Nima. Daphné is currently working and living in Paris.

SARA SERRAIOCCO (Italy)

Sara Serraiocco was born in Pescara and has followed her passion for dance and cinema since her childhood. She moved to Rome where she attended the prestigious Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia after finishing school. An appearance in an episode of the Italian TV series RIS - Crimini imperfetti led to her landing the lead role in the 2013 acclaimed film Salvo. Her performance as Rita, a young blind girl, won several major awards, including the Globo d'Oro awarded by the foreign press to Best Actress, and the Nastro d'Argento as Newcomer of the Year. In 2014, she was chosen by the director Liliana Cavani to play the role of Chiara of Assisi in the mini series Francesco. In 2015, she was cast in the lead of two films: Accabadora directed by Enrico Pau, and La ragazza del mondo directed by Marco Danieli.

REINOUT SCHOLTEN VAN ASCHAT (The Netherlands)

A graduate of Maastricht's Drama School, Reinout Scholten van Aschat received a Best Actor Golden Calf in 2011 for his lead role in Maarten Treurniet's The Heineken Kidnapping and has subsequently appeared in Alex van Warmerdam's Borgman, TV biopic Johan - Soccer Messiah, and Boudewijn Koole's Beyond Sleep, among others. Apart from his film work, he has been a member of the National Theatre's permanent ensemble and is one of the founders of the Lars Doberman theatre collective.

MARÍA VALVERDE (Spain)

María Valverde won the Goya for Best Newcomer for her acting debut as the lead actress in Manuel Martin Cuenca's 2002 film The Weakness of the Bolshevik and has since worked on numerous films both at home and abroad. María made her first film in English in 2008 with Jordan Scott's Cracks and also had a supporting role as Moses' wife in Ridley Scott's Exodus in 2014. She was cast in 2015 as one of the leads for Asif Kapadia's Ali and Nino, adapted from Kurban Said's acclaimed novel set in Azerbaijan.

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