SHOOTING STARS 2010: EFP announces jury

Presentation of Europe's best young actors at the 60th Berlinale
 

    Jury member: Ana Geislerová

The jury for SHOOTING STARS 2010 is now confirmed. At the end of November, Europe's 10 best up-and-coming actors will be chosen from the 21 nominations submitted by European Film Promotion's (EFP) member organisations. The SHOOTING STARS will be presented and honoured from 13-15 February 2010 during the Berlin International Film Festival.

The jury members for 2010 are the acclaimed Czech actress and 2004 SHOOTING STAR Ana Geislerová (Beauty in Trouble), the award-winning Italian director Giuseppe Piccioni (Giulia Doesn't Date At Night), the renowned German producer Karl Baumgartner (Pandora Film), the internationally active casting director Leo Davis from the UK (The Queen) and Steven Gaydos, author and Executive Editor of the international film magazine Variety, USA.

Supported by the Media Programme of the European Union, the SHOOTING STARS event has been spotlighting the achievements of young European actors and the quality of their films for the past 13 years and offering the selected talents a networking platform at the Berlinale to develop their international careers. The event culminates in the SHOOTING STARS AWARD - presented by Studio Babelsberg, one of Europe's leading film studios for feature films.

According to jury member Ana Geislerová who was herself selected as Czech SHOOTING STAR in 2004: "For me, it was a big step being selected as one of the SHOOTING STARS. I remember that belonging to the distinguished group of Europe's best young actors brought me into contact with many interesting and talented filmmakers from all over the world. I am truly proud that now, as a member of the SHOOTING STARS 2010 jury, I am given the chance to enable other colleagues to have this opportunity."

Jury

Karl Baumgartner (Germany). Renowned producer Karl Baumgartner established his career by co-founding Pandora Film in the 1980s as a leading European distributor of international arthouse films. Apart from distribution, Pandora Film soon became involved in production as well. With Emir Kusturica's film Underground (1995), the transition to production was completed. Baumgartner's latest productions and international co-productions include Irina Palm by Sam Garbarski (2007) and Tulpan by Sergei Dvortsevoy (2008). In 2003, he established the company PALLAS FILM with Thanassis Karathanos, which focuses on European projects of a high artistic standard. The same year, he received the Award of the "Kunst  und Kulturstiftung der Sparkasse Bremen" for his services to the European film industry. At the Locarno International Film Festival in 2004, he was awarded the prestigious Raimondo Rezzonico Prize. Karl Baumgartner is a member of the German, European and Asian-Pacific Film Academies.
 

Leo Davis (UK). Leo Davis is a Casting Director with a career spanning over three decades. Based in the United Kingdom, she mainly works with renowned British and European directors. Her long list of credits on acclaimed national and foreign feature films includes Antichrist by Lars von Trier, Hannibal Rising by Peter Webber, The Queen by Stephen Frears, Irina Palm by Sam Garbarski, The Constant Gardener by Fernando Meirelles, Girl with a Pearl Earring by Peter Webber, Skagerrak by Soren Kragh Jacobsen, Sunshine by István Szabó, and many others. Leo Davis has always been involved in the discovery of new acting talent. She is a founding member of the International Casting Directors Network (ICDN), the first association of its kind aimed exclusively at casting directors for feature films.
 

Steven Gaydos (USA). Executive Editor of Variety, Steven Gaydos, is responsible for over 250 editorial reports a year in both Daily and Weekly Variety, producing territorial surveys, film and TV market and festival reports, genre studies as well as business-oriented personality and corporate profiles. Gaydos created and directs the "10 to Watch" programme for Variety, spotlighting emerging talent from around the world in the fields of directing, screenwriting, cinematography, producing and acting. He is a member of the Writers Guild of America, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and the European Film Academy. Gaydos is the editor of "The Variety Guide to Film Festivals," (Variety/Putnam) and is also co-editor of "Movie Talk from the Frontlines" (McFarland) and "Cannes: 50 Years of Sun, Sex and Celluloid." (Miramax/Hyperion). Prior to joining Variety, he worked in Hollywood and Europe as a screenwriter and producer.

Ana Geislerová (Czech Republic). With leading and supporting roles in about 40 films, acclaimed actress Ana Geislerová has made a name for herself both nationally and internationally. Her work in Return of the Idiot by Sasa Gedeon led to a European Film Award nomination and a Czech Lion as "Best Supporting Actress" in 1999. In 2004, she was cast in Bohdan Sláma's Something Like Happiness, for which she received the Silver Shell for "Best Actress" at the San Sebastian Film Festival as well as a Czech Lion. Next came two films by Jan Hřebejk: Beauty In Trouble and Medvidek, which brought her a nomination for a Czech Lion in 2008. Recently, Ana Geislerová could be seen on the big screen in The Sadness of Mrs. Snajdrova (Albania/Czech Republic) by Eno and Piro Milkani, Hel by Kinga Debska (Poland) and The Case of Unfaithful Klara (Italy/Czech Republic) by Roberto Faenza. In addition, she is in preparations for the filming of her first self-penned screenplay.
 

Giuseppe Piccioni (Italy) is one of the most respected contemporary Italian directors. His first major step as a director was in 1987 when he made The Big Blek which received many awards and took part in the Berlin International Film Festival in 1988. In 1990, this success was followed by the acclaimed Ask for the Moon. His fifth film Not of This World in 1999 received five David di Donatello awards, the Grand Prix Special du Jury at the International Festival des Films du Monde in Montreal and the Silver Hugo Award at the Chicago International Film Festival. In 2001, Piccioni made Light of My Eyes which was in competition at the Venice Film Festival. In 2004, he directed The Life I Want which was screened in the official selection of the festivals in Berlin and Moscow in 2005. Recently, Giuseppe Piccioni directed Giulia Doesn't Date At Night which was selected for the festivals in Toronto, London, Pusan and Goteborg. He worked with many of the most important Italian actors like Margherita Buy, Silvio Orlando, Sergio Rubini, Luigi Lo Cascio, Valeria Golino, Sandra Ceccarelli, Valerio Mastandrea and many others.