Meet the Shooting Stars 2015 jury

Shooting Stars 2014 jury participant and film critic Charles Gant passes the torch to this year’s new jury members

Exactly a year ago at this time, I was engaged in one of the more agreeable assignments a film critic can be asked to perform. Despatched from European Film Promotion’s Hamburg office had arrived a box packed with numerous films on screener disc, and a similar number of actors’ showreels. It was my pleasant duty to watch all the discs in advance of a December jury meeting. My fellow jurors and I would then select the ten young actors from across Europe who would all be anointed Shooting Stars at the 2014 Berlinale.

The only downside to participating in the Shooting Stars jury is that it’s an honour that doesn’t usually repeat. Each year, EFP selects a fresh actor, critic, casting director, producer and filmmaker to make up that year’s jury. However brilliant and insightful (or otherwise) our contributions to the jury may be, we do not expect ever to return.

So it’s with a tinge of jealous regret that I welcome the men and women who have been invited as this year’s Shooting Stars jurors. From France, casting director Nathalie Cheron, who combines prolific work on French-language films with major international titles such as The Bourne Identity, Taken and Luc Besson’s Lucy. From Slovenia, producer Danijel Hocevar, whose excellent 2013 film Circles yielded 2014 Shooting Star Nikola Rakocevic. From Sweden, 2006 Shooting Star Eva Röse, an actress who plays the title role in internationally renowned crime series Maria Wern. From Poland, filmmaker Malgorzata Szumowska, who directed 2014 Shooting Star Mateusz Kosciukiewicz in the justly acclaimed drama In The Name Of, winner of the Teddy Award at the 2013 Berlinale. Finally, from the UK, film critic Damon Wise, who is a contributing editor to Empire magazine.

Over the years, I have participated in the jury not only for EFP’s Shooting Stars but also for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Rising Star Award. Although the schemes are quite different – for a start, Shooting Stars honours ten young actors equally, whereas the BAFTA prize eventually produces a single winner from the five nominees selected by the jury – there’s some similarity in terms of the kinds of jury discussions that ensue. Are we considering only pure acting ability? Or are we also looking for that ineluctable quality – star power – that is referenced in the titles of both awards? Charisma and screen presence are vital qualities for a film actor, and – quite rightly – these are considered alongside excellent technical acting skill.
I don’t want to give away any secrets of the jury room, but in my stint selecting the Shooting Stars, it’s certainly true that various jury members put the emphasis more on different aspects of the qualities under consideration. The mix of men and women on the jury, and our different backgrounds and professions, seemed to inform the debate. Sadly, I’ll never get to hear what will be said in the jury room this year, but there’s one thing for sure: I can’t wait to hear the names of the 2015 Shooting Stars that result.

THE JURY

Nathalie Cheron (Casting Director - France) is casting for French and European productions and already worked with some of Europe’s most respected directors. Her credit list includes Lucy and The Family by Luc Besson, Les Garçons et Guillaume, à table! by Guillaume Gallienne, Mr Morgan's Last Love by Sandra Nettelbeck, Sa Majesté Minor by Jean-Jacques Annaud, Paris, Je t'aime by 20 directors and The Bourne Identity by Doug Liman. Nathalie Cheron is member of the International Casting Directors’ Network (ICDN) and of the Association des Responsables de Distribution Artistique (ARDA).

Danijel Hočevar (Producer - Slovenia) is one of the most experienced producers from his region. Together with the directors Damjan Kozole and Metod Pevec he established the production company Vertigo in 1994. Here more than 40 feature films have been realized, including the multi award-winning An Episode In A Life Of An Iron Picker (2013) by Danis Tanović, Circles by Srdan Golubović and I Am From Titov Veles (2007) by Teona Mitevska. Danijel Hočevar has been selected as one of “Variety’s Ten Producers To Watch”. He is a voting member of the European Film Academy, a member of the selection jury of Nipkow Programm and a member of the pedagogical team of EAVE and MidPoint.

 Eva Röse (Actress and SHOOTING STAR 2006 - Sweden) has been one of the most popular Swedish actresses for the past 15 years. She has starred in over 50 feature films and TV productions and has played in over 20 stage productions at the Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm and the Stockholm City Theater. On the big screen she was successful in a number of popular Scandinavian films such as Kopps and Göta Kanal 2 and in the award-winning film Storm. Since 2008, Eva stars as the crime inspector Maria, in the internationally renowned Swedish crime series Maria Wern. The series contains 14 movies shown both as feature films and on TV.

Malgorzata Szumowska (Director - Poland) belongs to the most prominent Polish filmmakers and covers a broad spectrum working as screenwriter and producer as well as documentary and feature film director. She has been honoured with several awards, including the Teddy Award for In The Name Of at the Berlin Film Festival and the Silver Leopard Award at the Locarno Film festival for 33 Scenes From Life. Malgorzata Szumowska was twice nominated for the European Film Awards for Happy Man and Stranger. Her movie Elles, featuring Juliette Binoche and Anaïs Demoustier, French SHOOTING STAR 2010, was sold to over 40 countries.

Damon Wise (Film Editor - UK). A film writer since 1987, Damon Wise is currently a Contributing Editor with Empire magazine and an advisor to the BFI London Film Festival's Thrill strand. As a writer he has had his features, interviews and reviews published in many UK publications, including The Times, Financial Times, The Guardian and The Observer, as well as other film magazines such as Sight & Sound and the short-lived Neon. As well as covering set visits and junkets, he is a regular attendee at key international film festivals, including Sundance, Cannes, Venice and Toronto. In 1998 he published his first book, Come By Sunday (Sidgwick & Jackson), a biography of British film star Diana Dors.


This blog will appear at occasional intervals leading up to the Berlinale, and then more regularly during the Shooting Stars activity Feb 6-10.