This article launches the collaboration between Cinema&Video Inter- national and European Film Promotion, the international network that groups together 38 European film promotion agencies in order to represent their movies and talents at the main festivals and inter- national markets, particularly those outside Europe.
Starting with the new millennium, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has opened up significantly to world cinema. This year sees two European films joining in the race for the prestigious “Best Foreign Language Film” award
Following his Oscar for The Lives of Others in 2007, German director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck is nominated again with Never Look Away which also garnered a nomination for Best Achievement in Cinematography. The drama has been released in Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Portugal to date with a total of 284,000 admis- sions and was successfully sold to over 65 countries, including China, Latin America and the USA. The film will be released in the latter on January 25 by Sony Pictures Classics.
Polish writer-director Pawel Pawlikowski – who won an Oscar for Ida in 2015 – is nominated with the multi award-winning Cold War and received additional nominations for Best Achievement in Directing and Best Cinematography.
The dramatic love story has been released so far in over 27 countries, including Argentina, Australia, Russia, with a successful limited release in the US.
Apart from its success in Poland with a total box-office gross of more than € 5 million, the film has performed particularly well in France (€ 2.5 million) and Spain (€ 1.6 million).
During the Berlin International Film Festival, the film’s casting direc- tor Magdalena Szwarcbart will present a case study on Cold War at a European Shooting Star event in co-operation with the Berlinale Co-Production Market.
Since 1998, Eu-ropean Film Promotion has been showcasing outstanding acting talent from all over Europe like Carey Mulligan, Alba Rohrwacher, Alicia Vikander, Pilou Asbaek and Matthias Schoenaerts, to name just a few. They benefit, in particular, from the programme’s unique Actors Industry Network which brings the talent together with international casting directors and producers to foster those all-important international contacts.
THIS YEAR’S GROUPSELECTED BY AN INTERNATIONAL JURY IS AS FOLLOWS:
Iceland – Kristín Thora Haraldsdóttir
Norway – Ine Marie Wilmann
Sweden – Ardalan Esmaili
Denmark – Elliott Crosset Hove
Ireland – Aisling Franciosi
Estonia – Rea Lest
Poland – Dawid Ogrodnik
Germany – Emma Drogunova
Serbia – Milan Marić
Former Yugoslav Rep. of Macedonia – Blagoj Veselinov
The European Shooting Stars will receive awards at the Berlinale Palast on February 11. And they certainly include talents who will be recognised by the Academy in the years to come.
