SHOOTING STARS 2011 AT THE BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL

EFP SHOOTING STARS 2011
Photo © Markus Nass

SHOOTING STARS 2011At a press conference on Monday, February 14th.
Back row: Nik Xhelilaj (Albania), Domhnall Gleeson (Ireland),
Pilou Asbæk (Denmark), Alexander Fehling (Germany).
Front row: Alicia Vikander (Sweden), Marija Škaričić (Croatia), Natasha Petrovic (FYR Macedonia),
Clara Lago (Spain), Andrea Riseborough (United Kingdom), Sylvia Hoeks (The Netherlands).
Every year, at the Berlin International Film Festival (BIFF / Berlinale), young, exciting actors are named by the EFP (European Film Promotion Network) as SHOOTING STARS! Many of those named over the last few years have gone on to become among the world's biggest, most important, and most brilliant international stars. Here are some of the most famous participants in the Shooting Stars Program:

Moritz Bleibtreu - Germany - 1999
Daniel Bruhl - Germany - 2003
Daniel Craig - UK - 2000
Cecile de France - France - 2003
Anamaria Marinca - Romania - 2008
Carey Mulligan - UK - 2009
Ludivine Sagnier - France - 2001
Rachel Weisz - UK - 1998

Some other Shooting Stars are well known internationally, but slightly less famous in the US so far (watch for them!),

Sarah Bolger - Ireland - 2009
Hannah Herzsprung - Germany - 2008
Nina Hoss - Germany - 2000
David Kross - Germany - 2009
Franke Potente - Germany - 1998
Alba Rohrwacher - Italy - 2009

Nina Hoss, incidentally, is a member of this year's jury at the Berlin Film Festival.

For the last few years, several Shooting Stars have attended the Hampton's International Film Festival (HIFF) in October, joining the HIFF Rising Stars for the Hamptons' Breakthrough Performers program. In 2008, Anamaria Marinca and Hannah Herzsprung were among the visitors to the Hamptons. In 2009, Alba Rohrwacher (I Am Love) was a visitor.

Here's a story about last year's (2010) program:

http://qporit.blogspot.com/2010/10/breakthrough-performers.html

Here's a list of this year's Shooting Stars:

Pilou Asbæk (Johan Philip Asbaek)- Denmark
Alexander Fehling - Germany
Domhnall Gleeson - Ireland
Sylvia Hoeks - The Netherlands
Clara Lago (Clara Lago Grau)- Spain
Natasha Petrovic (Natasa Petrovic) - FYR of Macedonia
Andrea Riseborough - United Kingdom
Marija Skaricic - Croatia
Alicia Vikander - Sweden
Nik Xhelilaj (Kreshnik Xhelilaj) - Albania

This year, more than usual I think, many of the Shooting Stars have appeared in films that have been seen in the US. Domhnall Gleeson actually appeared on stage here, garnering a Tony nomination for his perfomance in Martin McDonagh's "The Lieutenant of Inishmore" on Broadway. Domhnall was also in True Grit, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Parts I & II) and, together with Andrea Riseborough, in Never Let Me Go. Andrea also appeared in Made in Dagenham. Sylvia Hoeks was seen in The Storm, the Opening Night film at the Stony Brook Film Festival last year. And Alexander Fehling was seen in Inglorius Basterds.

Like Andrea and Domhnall, Shooting Stars have often appeared in films together. Marija Skaricic and the 2010 Shooting Star Zrinka Cvitesic were both in "What's A Man Without A Moustache?". And Alexander Fehling was in Storm (different from Sylvia's The Storm) together with 2008 Shooting Star Anamaria Marinca.

We'll have to see whether some of this year's Shooting Stars will bring their films to the Hamptons. Hopefully, quite a few of these charismatic actors will be able to visit HIFF with their films in October.


Here some additional info about these actors, plus photos:




Nik Xhelilaj - Albania
Photo © Edvina Meta
Nik Xhelilaj (Kreshnik Xhelilaj) - Albania
1983-03-05 - 27
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nik_Xhelilaj

=>Born in Tirana, Albania, Nik Xhelilaj graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts there in 2008.
=>His film acting debut was the short SINGLE USE (Erion Hasanllari, 2005).
=>He had lead roles in
-- Piro and Eno Milkani's Albanian-Czech co-production SORROW OF MRS. SCHNEIDER (2008)
--and Artan Minarolli's ALIVE! (2008).
=>In 2010, the German-Albanian co-production THE ALBANIAN (Johannes Naber, 2010), earned him
-- the Silver George for 'Best Actor' at the 32nd Moscow International Film Festival
--the 'Best Actor' award at the 2nd PriFilmFest in Prishtina, Kosovo
--and the 'Best Actor' award at the 47th International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival.


Pilou Asbek - Denmark
Photo © Isak Hoffmeyer

Pilou Asbæk (Johan Philip Asbaek)- Denmark
1982-03-02 28
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1561982/

=>Born in Copenhagen, Pilou Asbæk graduated from The Danish National School of Theatre in 2008.
=> He made his screen debut with Niels Arden Oplev's WORLDS APART, and was nominated for Danish TV 2 Zulu's People's Choice Award as 'Best Supporting Actor'.
=>In 2009, Pilou portrayed a crippled Iraq veteran in the EMMY-nominated DR TV series "The Killing II".
=>2010 saw Pilou in his first lead role in Michael Noer and Tobias Lindholm's R, as the prisoner "R".
=>Pilou starred in Pernille Fischer Christensen's A FAMILY, in competition, and winner of the International Film Critics' FIPRESCI Award for Best Film, at the 2010 Berlinale.

Sylvia Hoeks - The Netherlands
Photo © Ron Stam
Sylvia Hoeks - The Netherlands
1983-06-01 - 28
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1679778/

=>Sylvia Hoeks was born in Maarheeze, The Netherlands.
=>At 14 she began working with Elite models.
=>She studied at the Maastricht Theatre Academy.
=>For Jos Stelling's DUSKA (2007), Sylvia won the 'Best Supporting Actress' Golden Calf at the annual Dutch Film Festival in Utrecht.
=>She appeared in "Vuurzee (Vara)" and "Bloedverwanten (Avro)" on Dutch TV.
=>Her first lead role was in Ben Sombogaart's THE STORM (2009), which opened the Stony Brook Film Festival (NY, USA);
=>At Portugal's Festroia International Film Festival she was named 'Best Actress,' also for THE STORM.
=>In 2010, she starred in the title role of Rudolf van den Berg's TIRZA, The Netherlands' official submission for the Academy Awards 2011.



Natasha Petrovic - FYR of Macedonia
Photo © Robert Jankuloski
Natasha Petrovic (Natasa Petrovic) - FYR of Macedonia
1988 ~23
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3114558/

=>Natasha Petrovic was born in Stip, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
=>She has been studying drama in the Faculty of Dramatic Arts of the Sts. Cyril and Methodi University in Skopje since 2007 and will graduate in 2011.
=>Her first feature film role was Milcho Manchevski's SHADOWS which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2007 and was the national Academy Award submission in 2008.
=>In 2009, she played the lead role of Samira in Juanita Wilson's feature debut AS IF I AM NOT THERE. For this performance, Natasha is nominated for 'Best International Actress Film' at this year's Irish Film & TV Awards.



Marija Skaricic - Croatia
Photo © Mare Milin
Marija Skaricic - Croatia
1977-08-06 - 33 -- 5-5
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1146292/

=>Marija Škaricic was born in Split, Croatia.
=>She trained at the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb.
=>Her first leading role in A WONDERFUL NIGHT IN SPLIT (Arsen A. Ostojic, 2004) earned her the Heart of Sarajevo award for 'Best Actress' at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
=>She co-starred alongside Zrinka Cvitešic and Leon Lucev in the romantic comedy WHAT IS A MAN WITHOUT A MOUSTACHE? (Hrvoje Hribar, 2005).
=>In 2006, she garnered another Heart of Sarajevo for FRAULEIN by Andrea Štaka.
=>Her recent films (which both premiered at the 2010 Berlinale) include
--Burhan Qurbani's debut feature SHAHADA
--and Zvonimir Juric's short YELLOW MOON.
=>For her role in Dalibor Matanic's MOTHER OF ASPHALT, she won the Golden Arena for 'Best Actress in a Leading Role' at the 57th Pula Film Festival as well as the FIPA d'Or Grand Prize.


Domhnall Gleeson - Ireland
Photo © Danny Prussmaan

Domhnall Gleeson - Ireland
1983 27 6-1
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1727304/

=>Domhnall Gleeson studied Media Arts at the Dublin Institute of Technology.
=>He made his film acting debut in Martin McDonagh's short SIX SHOOTER (2004).
=>In 2006, he earned a Tony Award nomination for his part in the Broadway production "The Lieutenant of Inishmore".
=>He followed this with an Irish Theatre Award nomination for 'Best Supporting Actor' for his role in "American Buffalo" at the Gate Theatre in 2007.
=>On screen
--He played the lead in the Irish feature SENSATION (Tom Hall, 2010).
--He was in the 2011 Berlinale opening film TRUE GRIT (Ethan and Joel Coen, 2010).
--He appeared along with Andrea Riseborough and Keira Knightley in NEVER LET ME GO (Mark Romanek, 2009).
--He was also in A DOG YEAR (George LaVoo, 2006).
--Domnhall appeared alongside his father, Brendan Gleeson, in Paul Mercier's STUDS (2005) and the two parts of HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS.
=>He will be in his father's directorial debut AT SWIM-TWO-BIRDS (2011).
=>For his performance in "When Harvey Met Bob" he is nominated for 'Best Actor in a lead role TV' at this years' Irish Film & TV Awards (IFTA).

Clara Lago - Spain
Photo © Kuranda
Clara Lago (Clara Lago Grau)- Spain
1990-03-06 - 21
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1242939/

=>Madrid-born Clara Lago was only ten years old when she auditioned for her first role.
=>Two years later she won a Goya Awards nomination as 'Best Emerging Actress' for her title role in Imanol Uribe's CAROL'S JOURNEY (2002).
=>Since then, Clara has been able to follow an acting career and continue her school education, which included a year's schooling in the United States.
=>Her films have included
--YOUR NEXT LIFE (2004) by Manuel Gutiérrez,
--Manuel Gomez Pereira's THE HANGED MAN (2009)
--Oskar Santos' FOR THE GOOD OF OTHERS (2010)
--and then Arévalo's new comedy PRIMOS
--and Andi Baiz's BUNKER in Colombia.


Andrea Riseborough - UK
Photo © Niall OBrien
Andrea Riseborough - United Kingdom
1981-10-27 - 29 -- 5-7
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2057859/

=>Andrea Riseborough graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in 2005.
=>She won the 2006 Ian Charleson Award, for exceptional classical stage work from actors under 30, for her performances in "Miss Julie" and "Measure For Measure".
=>In 2009, Andrea was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for her portrayal of the young Margaret Thatcher in the TV drama "The Long Walk To Finchley".
=>She made her film acting debut in Roger Michell's VENUS (2006)
=>and has followed with
--HAPPY GO LUCKY (Mike Leigh, 2008),
--NEVER LET ME GO (Mark Romanek, 2010)
--WE WANT SEX (Nigel Cole, 2010)
--BRIGHTON ROCK (Rowan Joffe 2010)
--and W.E. (2011) as Wallis Simpson, under the direction of Madonna.



Alexander Fehling - Germany
Photo © Joachim Gern

Alexander Fehling - Germany
1981 ~29
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2356421/

=>Alexander Fehling studied acting at the Hochschule für Schauspielkunst "Ernst Busch" from 2003-2007.
=>He made his film debut in Robert Thalheim's AND ALONG COME TOURISTS (2006), for which he received the Young German Cinema Award as 'Best Actor' at the Filmfest München in 2007.
=>He had supporting roles in Heinrich Breloer's BUDDENBROOKS (2007), Hans-Christian Schmid's STORM (2008), and Quentin Tarantino's INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS (2009).
=>He had leading roles in
--Frieder Wittich's 13 SEMESTER (2009)
--Philipp Stölzl's GOETHE!
--Andres Veiel's fiction feature debut IF NOT US, WHO?, which will have its world premier in Competition at the 2011 Berlin International Film Festival.
--Jan Zabeil's THE ART OF DYING and
--NIEMANDSLAND (working title) directed by Toke Constantin Hebbeln.

(Note: 2011-02-19 -- IF NOT US, WHO?, won the "Alfred Bauer Prize" -- for broadening the horizons of the art of filmmaking -- today at the 2011 Berlin Film Festival.)

Alicia Vikander - Sweden
Photo © Marica Rosengard

Alicia Vikander - Sweden
1988-10-03 - 22
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2539953/

=>Alicia was born in Gothenburg, Sweden.
=>She made her big-screen acting debut in Lisa Langseth's PURE (aka BELOVED) which won the Flash-Forward Award at the 2010 Pusan International Film Festival.
=>For the role of Katarina in PURE she was awarded 'Best Actress' at the 2011 Guldbagge Awards.
=>Most recently, Alicia had a lead role in Ella Lemhagen's CROWN JEWELS (2011).

QPORIT HOME
www.qporit.com -- LOVE'S FINE WIT -- Shakespeare's sonnets selected and rearranged to dramatize the story of an intense love triangle, with Elizabethan music. One night only: April 23 6:00 at the Cornelia Street Cafe - 29 Cornelia Street NY 212 989-9319.


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ON THE PATH & ZRINKA CVITESIC

Zrinka CvitesicAt the Breakthrough Performers' Panel HIFF 2010
Photo by Eric Roffman

ON THE PATH is a terrific film, exceptionally richly directed by Jasmila Zbanic, and exceptionally richly acted by Zrinka Cvitesic.

This is a film which is all "sub-text." Nominally, and if you read the synopsis, the film seems to be about a man who becomes a devout Wahhabi Moslem. That is what is happening on the surface. But that text is just the enrichment of the real story.

The actress, Zrinka, speaking for herself and the director, says that in reality the film is about love -- about a couple that love each other with a bond that threatens to come apart when the man develops an obsession.

The story takes place in Bosnia, and is about a couple which is moderately, almost secularly Muslim. Then the man becomes more and more involved in very ritualistic, fundamentalist, orthodox (I'm not sure what the correct word is) Muslim practices.

But the man, they say, could have become a workaholic computer hacker, or developed any other obsession, and the essence of the story would have been the same.

The film gives life to the culture and geography of Bosnia. This immersion in the culture of Bosnia helps give the film its special richness. The richness is enhanced by the commitment of the actress and the actors to the specific life of this specific Bosnian couple. (In fact, although there is not one hint of it in the film, the principal characters are essentially created from the stories of very real people.)

But contrary to what one might expect -- what I certainly expected after reading the synopsis in the HIFF program -- there is no suggestion that the Muslim orthodoxy described in the film is in any way related to terrorism or international terrorism. This is in no way a story about politics -- though it is political. It is a love story. Still, it is political, because it seems to me the story is a defense of moderation, accommodation, compromise, and modern values in the service of love.

The description of the ways the man behaves in his Muslim orthodoxy, in reality, is not significantly different from a description that could be written about a non-religious man in love in New York who goes to Israel, where the man becomes involved in Ultra-Orthodox Zionist Judaism, with new rules for praying, touching women, and strict dietary rules; where everyone who used to be around him may fear (without any evidence) that these religious beliefs have political overtones that could have a violent outlet.

The film, in fact, is a celebration of moderation. Unlike films like Carlos and Che, where the film has a section in the beginning where the protagonist and title character is shown as idealistic, and committed to social improvement, as well as hunky, handsome and virile -- so that a section of the film could be taken out of context and used as a recruitment vehicle for terrorists -- ON THE PATH has no period where terrorism is glorified. It does not demean or mock the man's choice of religion either, though it does show the strains his choice puts on his relationships.

As a celebration of moderation, and a story of love, and a setting in a faraway, exotic land not well known to most Americans, and a story that explores religion and personal life, this film could (and I think should) have a commercial life in a circuit that includes colleges, and moderate Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religious groups and organizations. Mel Gibson built a distribution system for a violent religious film. It is time to build (or re-build: these used to exist!) a distribution system for wholesome, dramatic films (foreign and domestic) that do not rely on violence or sophomoric humor.

(To expand on that thought for a moment, it may be that heavy promotion of free, full-screen, high-resolution streaming video of brilliant, but otherwise rarely seen, feature films could be used to build a market for films that currently have little or no American distribution.)

Bosnia, where the film is set, escaped about fifteen years ago from a war with neighboring Serbia in which atrocities were committed and houses and property were appropriated. That is the background for this story.

Throughout history, Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia (and other countries which were once part of Yugoslavia) have been the site of many, many wars of conquest and liberation and shifting alliances and unions.

Muslims are the largest religious group in Bosnia; Catholics the largest in Croatia; Serbia is largely Protestant.

The director, Jasmila Zbanic, is a moderate Bosnian Muslim woman. She is a very independent woman. She is interested in the lives of women, their love lives, their personal lives, their happiness. One usually thinks of a "feminist" as someone who is especially interested in women as professionals, so perhaps Jasmila might be called (at least on the evidence of this movie) a "womanist," rather than a feminist.

Her method of auditioning her actors was quite unique. She had the actors all become clowns for a week, and gave them almost impossible tasks to do. I think this helped her create a cast of fearless actors, who retained strong bonds with each other.

Her direction created a film of absorbing richness, both in the behavior of the actors, and the backdrop on which the love story was played. She provides a large palette of emotion and experience; and cinematography that can be beautiful or gritty as the scene requires.

On the strength of this film, I would expect her to become a major international directing talent -- provided that Bosnian films can reach the world market.

Zrinka Cvitesic (pronounced -- I'm guessing here -- Svi TEZ itch) has exceptional range, both physically and emotionally. In this film it seems as if at least three different actresses are playing her role as she evolves through the story of the film. She is not afraid of any kind of behavior. On her website, her portfolio (see the YouTube slideshow below) shows a whole spectrum of poses from "nice young lady" to exotic model. She can be quite plain or fabulously beautiful; young and innocent to sophisticated and worldly; under control and totally free.

Zrinka was selected as a Shooting Star by the EFP, European Film Promotions, and came to HIFF as one of the Breakthrough Performers. On the Breakthrough Performers Panel, and in person, she was charming, lovely, friendly, articulate -- in English, and very interesting in providing background to the film and her own creative development.


Breakthrough Performers Zrinka Cvitesic and Pihla Viitala
Talking with Harvey Weinstein
At the Chairman's Party HIFF 2010
Photo by Eric Roffman

The Breakthrough Performers Program and the Shooting Star Program were both designed to give exceptionally promising young actors the opportunity to develop creatively and professionally by networking and being mentored by established figures in the film world; and simultaneously they promote their films throughout the world.

Although not part of this film, it should also be noted that Zrinka is a singer and a terrific dancer: she won the Croatian version of Dancing With The Stars. (Two YouTube videos are below showing her singing --in English! -- and dancing. She is quite amazing in the range of her talents!)

For ON THE PATH, Zrinka, who is Croatian, learned the Bosnian dialect and manner. In fact, in preparing the role, she needed to represent a specific Bosnian woman who had been the subject of a famous photograph (showing her suffering from anti-Bosnian violence, from which she did survive). Although that identity never shows up in the film, I suspect that the specific identification helped to create the tangible feeling of reality that permeates the film.

Zrinka speaks excellent English. In fact she lived for a bit in the US. With a look that can be natural or exotic; beauty that could make her an international supermodel, prodigious acting talent, and the facility to dance her way to the top, I'm looking forward to Zrinka's next great films, and fantastic career.

Cvitesic may be hard to figure out how to pronounce. Supermodels often go by a single name. I'll call her Zrinka!


TRAILER FOR AN EARLY FILM -- HORSEMAN:




MODELING/POSING:




DANCING:




SINGING:




LINKS --

IMDB: ON THE PATH (NA PUTU)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1156531/


WIKIPEDIA: ON THE PATH (NA PUTU)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Path


IMDB: ZRINKA CVITESIC
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0194152/


WIKIPEDIA: ZRINKA CVITESIC
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zrinka_Cvite%C5%A1i%C4%87


HOME PAGE: ZRINKA CVITESIC
http://www.zrinkacvitesic.com/en/index.php


IMDB: JASMILA ZBANIC
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1120092/


WIKIPEDIA: JASMILA ZBANIC
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasmila_%C5%BDbani%C4%87

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMERS

One of my favorite programs at the Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) each year is the Breakthrough Performers Program, run by Lina Todd, which recognizes a small number of extremely good young actors whose films are showing at HIFF.


Maryam Hassouni Anamaria Marinca & Hannah Herzsprung
Breakthrough Performers / Shooting Stars 2008
With Lina Todd
Photo by Eric Roffman

For the audience it is a chance to meet some actors at an early stage in their career, actors who have a real good shot at becoming huge stars. For the actors it is a chance to meet each other, to be mentored by distinguished talents in the American film industry, and to be introduced to American audiences.

In addition to seeing their breakthrough film (or films, sometimes an actor has more than one film at the Festival), there is the opportunity to speak with them informally at parties (and sometimes formally at interviews). There is also a panel presentation at which they talk about themselves, discuss filmmaking, and answer questions from the audience. Rajendra Roy in 2009
At HIFF to moderate the Breakthrough Performers Panel
Photo by Eric Roffman
The program began as Rising Stars in 2002, when the Festival honored some new young film actors. Beginning in 2008, the program partnered with the European Shooting Stars program and invited several European actors to join the Rising Stars, calling the joint program, Breakthrough Performers. The program is run by Lina Todd. In its early years, the program was championed by Rajendra Roy, the Programmer for the Festival (who is currently Film Curator at the Museum of Modern Art -- MOMA). Rajendra returned last year to the Hamptons for the Festival, and chaired the Breakthrough Performers Panel.

The Festival this year has a very distinguished group of European Shooting Stars and International Rising Stars:

RISING STARS at HIFF 2010:

Frieda Pinto from India (Miral)
Brittany Robertson from the US (The Family Tree, Cherry)
Jessica Chastain from the US (The Debt)

Noomi Rapace, the Swedish Actress who played The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was chosen as a Rising Star, but will not be able to come because of conflicts in her shooting schedule: she's currently working on the Sherlock Holmes sequel and Clean Out with Timothy Dalton.


SHOOTING STARS at HIFF 2010:

Zrinka Cvitesic from Croatia (On The Path)
Anais Demoustier from France (Sweet Evil)
Pihla Viitala from Finland (Bad Family)


MORE ABOUT THE BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMERS at HIFF 2010



Freida Pinto
MIRAL
Frieda Pinto (1984-10-18, 26 next week -- 5'6") was the object of desire in Slumdog Millionaire. She appears at HIFF in Miral by distinguished artist/director Julian Schnabel. She will soon be seen in Woody Allen's You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger.

Britt Robertson
CHERRY
Brittany (or Britt) Robertson (1990-04-18, 20 -- 5'3") is current playing Lux in Life Unexpected on CW. She was earlier seen in Swingtown on TV and, in films, was in Dan in Real Life and will soon be in Wes Craven's Scream 4. At HIFF 2010 she'll be seen in two films, Cherry, and The Family Tree.

Jessica Chastain (1977-03-29, 33 (according to WIKI) -- or 1981-03-29, 29 (IMDB) -- 5'4") has appeared on TV in ER, Law & Order and Veronica Mars. She is soon to be seen in Wilde Salome (as Salome) directed by Al Pacino. She will also be seen in Coriolanus, directed by Ralph Fiennes, and The Tree of Life, directed by Terrence Malick. She also joins an all-star cast in The Help. At HIFF 2010, she'll be seen in John Madden's The Debt as Young Rachel Singer.

The European Shooting Stars are chosen by a complex and super-selective process. 32 European countries are eligible to nominate a young star that has had an important and commercially successful film in the last year; then a jury selects 10 Shooting Stars who are announced at the Berlin Film Festival. The Shooting Stars receive many opportunities throughout the year to promote the films they have done; and they are given a statuette, the Maria. I am told that when Oscar and Maria stand next to each other, they make a nice looking couple!



Zrinka Cvitesic
ON THE PATH

Zrinka Cvitesic (1979-07-18, 31) from Croatia has acted in Theater, TV and Films. She is also a dancer, and won the Croatian version of Dancing With The Stars. She has won Best Actress Awards in her films Man Without A Moustache, and On The Path, the film being shown at HIFF.



Anais Demoustier
SWEET EVIL
Anais Demoustier (1987-09-29, 23) -- from France appeared with Isabelle Huppert in Michael Haneke's The Time of the Wolf. She appears in Sweet Evil at HIFF 2010



Pihla Viitala
BAD FAMILY

Pihla Viitala (1982-09-30, 26 -- 5'7") from Finland appeared in Tears of April, shown at HIFF in 2009, opposite Samuli Vauramo, a 2009 Shooting Star and Breakthrough Performer. She speaks English, Swedish, French and her native Finnish. She will be seen in Bad Family at HIFF 2010.

On The Path, Bad Family, and Sweet Evil are all "edgy" European films that deal in taboos and "politically incorrect" territory.

Over the years, the Rising Stars Program has spotlighted many important actors, including Emmy Rossum, Kate and Rooney Mara, Taylor Kitsch, Emily Blunt, Elizabeth Reaser, and Elizabeth Moss.

Hannah Herzsprung is the one actor distinguished by being selected first as a Rising Star (in 2007) and then returning the next year as a Shooting Star (in 2008).


Here is a list of the participants in the Breakthrough Performers Program at the Hamptons International Film Festival since it began in 2002. (I've tried to get all the years, participants and spellings correct... but do add a comment if you can correct an error in this list!)

In 2002, when the program started, James Coburn was the first Mentor and Rajendra Roy was the HIFF Program Director.

2002 –
Jordan Bridges
Jacqueline Kim
Ryan Locke
Andrea Navedo
Susan May Pratt

2003 –
Dean Wareham
Savannah Haske
Elizabeth Moss
GQ
Mylika Davis

2004 –
Mark Weber
Norman Reedus
Vinessa Shaw
Aaron Stanford
Eugenia Yuan

2005 –
Emily Blunt
Eugene Byrd
Florian Lukas
Jake Muxworthy
Kip Pardue
Elizabeth Reaser

2006 --
Carmen Chaplin
Dagmara Dominczyk
Matt Davis
Mido Hamada
Noah Fleiss

2007 --
Jess Weixler (Teeth)
Hannah Herzsprung (Four Minutes)
Egbert-Jan Weeber (Vivere)
Blake Lively (Elvis and Anabelle)

2008 –
Kate Mara (Stone Of Destiny),
Taylor Kitsch (Gospel Hill), and
Jake Abel (Flash Of Genius) from North America and

Maryam Hassouni (Dunya And Desie),
Anamaria Marinca (Boogie)
Hannah Herzsprung (Werther)

2009 –
Emmy Rossum (Dare)
Rooney Mara (Dare and Tanner Hall)
Zach Gilford and Emma Stone were selected, but were unable to attend

Alba Rohrwacher (Due partite --in English, The Ladies Get Their Say) from Italy
Cyron Melville (Love and Rage) from Denmark.
Samuli Vauramo (Tears of April)


2010 –
Freida Pinto (Miral)
Brittany Robertson (The Family Tree, Cherry)
Jessica Chastain (The Debt)

Zrinka Cvitešić from Croatia (On the Path)
Anaïs Demoustier (Sweet Evil) from France
Pihla Viitala (Bad Family) from Finland

The Shooting Stars program, with a long history, has had many very distinguished members. The actors known to an American audience, though, are primarily from the UK, Germany and France. Shooting Stars is a program of the European Film Promotion Network (EFP), and it can only be hoped that they will succeed in promoting films from all over Europe (the other 29 countries!) in the US.

In addition to those who've come to the US for the Breakthrough Performers Program, who are having terrific starts to their careers, here are some of the most famous participants in the Shooting Stars Program:

Moritz Bleibtreu - Germany - 1999
Sarah Bolger - Ireland - 2009
Daniel Bruhl - Germany - 2003
Daniel Craig - UK - 2000
Cecile de France - France - 2003
Nina Hoss - Germany - 2000
David Kross - Germany - 2009
Carey Mulligan - UK - 2009
Franke Potente - Germany - 1998
Ludivine Sagnier France - 2001
Rachel Weisz - UK - 1998

We should point out, though, that there are many exciting young actors in indie and studio films at HIFF that are not part of the Breakthrough Performers Program.

Some actors to watch that have not been in the Breakthrough Performer Program are:

Ashley Springer
At HIFF with DARE in 2009
Photo by Eric Roffman

Ashley Springer, terrific in 2009's Dare and in 2007's Teeth, both of which had other cast members in the Breakthrough Performers Program, though he was not. He's very intelligent, funny, and good looking, in addition to being an excellent actor, and game: in Teeth he was one of the unfortunate victims of Jess Weixler's "teeth".

Supermodel/Actress Xenia Siamas, smart, beautiful, entrepreneurial and supremely talented. Highly sought after as a model, she is doing more and more films. She played a drug addict in the 2006 Push with Chazz Palminteri. She has a featured role in Casino Jack at HIFF this year, as a stewardess, and is in development and pre-production with several film projects for next year. Watch for her!



Robin Singer
KISSES, CHLOE
Photo by Ramsey Fendall
Lovely Robin Singer has a starring role in the three character drama Kisses, Chloe: a man, a woman, and another woman, alone, together, in a house by the sea in the Hamptons (a perfect film for HIFF)!

Here are some links:

http://www.hamptonsfilmfest.org/

http://www.efp-online.com/


http://www.shooting-stars.eu/

Here are some older stories about participants in the Breakthrough Performers Program:

HIFF 2009 - ROONEY MARA IS THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
(Rooney was one of last year's Breakthrough Performers at HIFF 2009; these are some pix I took there.)
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2010/08/rooney-mara-is-girl-with-dragon-tattoo.html


HIFF 2009 - VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH EMMY ROSSUM FROM DARE
(Emmy Rossum was a Breakthrough Performer at HIFF 2009, and she had a starring role in the film, Dare. This is a video interview I did with her. Emmy is currently taping Shameless, a new TV series for Showtime.)
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2009/11/emmy-rossum-dare.html


HIFF 2009 - PREVIEW -- THE 2009 BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMERS
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2009/10/breakout-performers-at-hiff.html

HIFF 2008 - VIER MINUTEN AND HANNAH HERZSPRUNG
(Hannah Herzsprung, one of the finest and most popular young actresses in German was in the Breakthrough Performers Program in both 2007 and 2008. This story and others about her from the Festival have been enduringly popular. Each time one of her films opens, or she comes into attention, QPORIT gets a huge flood of traffic (largely but not entirely from Germany and Europe) for stories that mention her. Most recently this just happened again a few weeks ago.)
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2008/11/vier-minuten-and-hannah-herzsprung.html

HIFF 2007 - TEETH
(Jess Weixler was one of the 2007 Breakthrough Performers.)
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2008/02/teeth.html

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMERS AT HIFF

One of my favorite features of the Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) is the series of events centering around the Breakout Performers (BP's). Each year several young and very promising American and foreign actors are honored as Rising Stars (US) and Shooting Stars (EU).

The public events include films with these young actors, panel discussions and parties. (There are also private events for the BP's including "mentoring" with established professionals.)

The last two years and this coming year the honored BP's have been really special. (I'm trying to track down who the earlier -- up thru 2006 -- BP's were.)

Here's a preview of this year's BP's... after we meet the BP's at the festival we'll add more to this story!

The Rising Stars this year are Emmy Rossum, Emma Stone, Rooney Mara, and Zach Gilford.

Emmy Rossum is 23 (9/12/86)and 5'8". She studied at Columbia University.She is a terrific singer, starting in the Metropolitan Opera Children's Chorus as a child, and starring in Phantom of the Opera. She also had roles in Mystic River and The Day After Tomorrow. Her first starring role was in Nola, a film directed by Alan Hruska (who we interviewed after liking his film, The Warrior Class, one of my favorite films at the Tribeca FF a few years ago). Here's a picture of Alan in his office with a picture of Emmy in Nola on the wall.

Emmy Rossum in a poster for NOLAon the wall of director Alan Hruska's office.Photo by Eric Roffman.

This year she'll be seen at HIFF in Dare (along with Zach Gilford and Rooney Mara).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmy_Rossum

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002536/

Emma Stone is 20 (11/6/88) 5' 6". Her first feature was Superbad. She was funny as the host ghostess in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. She was also in The Rocker, The House Bunny, and Zombieland.

She'll be seen at HIFF in Paper Man with Jeff Bridges. She has Easy-A (from the director of Fired Up) now in post production.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Stone
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1297015/

Zach Gilford is 27 (01/14/82). He went to Northwestern. He's a (real life) trip leader for teen adventures... but he's best known for his role as Matt Saracen in Friday Night Lights. (Last year, his teammate Tim Riggins (ie Taylor Kitsch) was a Shooting Star.) Zach is in post production now for The River Why.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zach_Gilford

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1472917/

Rooney Mara (about 24) is part of a famous football owning family, and the sister of Kate Mara who was a Shooting Star last year. She was educated partly at NYU and partly in a traveling program visiting South American countries, and is developing a non-profit organization related to international issues. Rooney is in two movies at HIFF, Dare and Tanner Hall. She has several pictures in post production or getting ready for release.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooney_Mara

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1913734/

The Shooting Stars are Alba Rohrwacher (Due partite -- Now called, in English, The Ladies Get Their Say) from Italy, and Cyron Melville (Love and Rage), from Denmark.

More about the present and former Breakout Performers after the festival.

NOTES: OCT 10 --

1 - HIFF calls them Breakthrough Performers, not Breakout Performers.

2 - Zach Gilford didn't make it because of Friday Night Lights shooting conflicts. Emma Stone did not arrive in time for the Panel.

3 - Samuli Vauramo, from Finland, one of Europe's Shooting Stars, did arrive, flying in from Rome for a day or two before going right back to Rome to continue shooting a film with George Clooney.