First impressions of the Shooting Stars

Today here in Berlin begins three action-packed days of events and festivities celebrating the ten Shooting Stars for 2014. All of the actors are here at the Berlinale, some together with their agent, others braving the spotlight on their own. As a jury member and official Shooting Stars blogger I am privileged to be shadowing the group, and last night we met at our hotel for a relaxed introduction session with organisers European Film Promotion.

Jakob Oftebro and George MacKay during the introduction meeting © Ralf Uhler

Several of the stars have particular excitement to be here in Berlin. Norway's Jakob Oftebro is here at the festival with a film in competition, Hans Petter Moland's Kraftidioten (In Order Of Disappearance), also starring Stellan Skarsgard, Bruno Ganz and Shooting Star jury member Anders Baasmo Christiansen. Anders, who himself was a Shooting Star in 2010, arrives today. Last night Jakob spoke on behalf of the whole group when he articulated how happy they are all to be here, and looking forward to this special time together. Shooting Stars 2014 may have found its ambassador.
George MacKay from the UK stepped briefly outside the Shooting Stars bubble last night since his girlfriend Saoirse Ronan was here with Berlinale Opening Night film Grand Budapest Hotel from Wes Anderson. The pair met on the set of Kevin Macdonald's dystopian teen romance How I Live Now and managed to keep their relationship pretty much under wraps until the UK release of the film last autumn. George has been given leave of absence from the London play The Cement Garden, in which he is currently starring, to attend the Berlinale.

Sweden's Edda Magnason is celebrating her recent Best Actress win at the Swedish Film Awards – aka the Guldbagge Awards – for her title role in music biopic Waltz With Monica. An acclaimed recording artist in her home country, Edda makes a sensational film debut as legendary Swedish jazz singer Monica
Zetterlund.
This year's crop of Shooting Stars is international not only in the sense of representing ten different European countries, but also to some degree themselves. Italian Shooting Star Miriam Karlkvist is half-Swedish, and Danish Shooting Star Danica Curcic has Serbian heritage. Norway's Jakob Oftebro works happily in any Scandinavian language (and English, of course) and co-stars with Danica in Danish film On The Edge, which is selling in the market here in Berlin. Poland Shooting Star Mateusz Kosciukiewicz returns to Berlin having just completed shooting a movie here three weeks ago.
Finally a word about Serbian Shooting Star Nikola Rakocevic, who seemingly comes complete with his own GPS device. He was able to guide us back to our hotel as we took some welcome past-midnight air walking home from the Danish party, having seemingly noted the directions when being driven to the event. If I get lost in Berlin, which I expect to do, I'm calling Nikola.

This evening (Saturday February 8) the Shooting Stars attend the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg Film Fund reception at the Ritz-Carlton, and a welcome cocktail with Shooting Stars main partner and Berlinale official partner Tesiro. Medienboard is a partner in Nikola Rakocevic's film Circles, for which he is nominated as a Shooting Star this year.