9 Feb 2014

Our Shooting Stars jury spokesman: Anders Baasmo Christiansen

As a former Shooting Star himself, Norwegian actor Anders Baasmo Christiansen has a special role on our jury and is its public face. Introducing the 2014 Shooting Stars today at the Hotel De Rome for their Berlin press conference, he spoke tenderly about how the accolade, which he received in 2010, impacted him not just in terms of doors it opened for his career. “It put me on a different level of confidence with my own work,” he said. “Actors tend to feel self-doubt. We sometimes feel like we are the worst person in the world and that's part of our process.” But with such an endorsement as Shooting Stars, he advised this year's winners, “If you find yourself in that position, you can blame the script rather than yourself.

Anders and Jakob during the Shooting Stars Press Presentation
Afterwards, Anders told me about his time as a Shooting Star, which came a fair way into his career, in honour of the Berlinale Panorama 2009 opening film North, from Rune Densted Langlo. “I was the oldest of the Shooting Stars group, and 2010 was my last chance to be a Shooting Star,” said Anders. He remained level-headed about the accolade and didn't necessarily expect big changes in his career. However, the Shooting Star designation won him an international agent – Denmark's Anne Lindberg – who has been mentioned to me many times in conversation here in Berlin as the best Scandinavian talent agent. She also represents the 2014 Shooting Stars Danica Curci (Denmark) and Jakob Oftebro (Norway).
Anders gives credit to Anne's patience that he hasn't necessarily leapt at international offers that have come his way, and says he now feels more ready to embrace them. He added, “I always say, with Shooting Stars, not every door is necessarily opening, but maybe the road of coincidences [that you need to occur take you to your career goal] will be a little bit shorter.”

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