The European Shooting Stars platform, run by European Film Promotion and supported by Creative Europe’s Media Programme, is in its 29th edition, bringing ten more promising European acting talents to the Berlin Film Festival and helping them build their international careers. From February 13th to 16th, selected performers will participate in workshops and panel discussions, as well as meetings with international journalists, producers and casting directors.
The open event, to be held at the Berlinale Hub on February 16th, will introduce talented artists to the public in a playful and relaxed atmosphere, combining conversations, video clips and games. Admission is free on a first-come, first-served basis.
This year’s Shooting Stars was selected by a jury consisting of Danish actress Danica Čurčić, Bosnian director and Academy Award winner Danis Tanovic, Portuguese casting director Joe Monteiro, Belgian producer Jacques-Henri Blonkert, and British-Sudanese critic Leila Latif. They were selected from candidates recommended by film promotion organizations and film centers in each country.
Introducing this year’s shooting stars:
violet blackman
Belgium
Hailed by the jury as a “chameleon-like… rarest talent”, Blackman will star in the Berlinale’s special gala “Hazel 85”. She plays the daughter of the mayor of Brussels, one of many characters caught between professional duty, family loyalty and moral responsibility when violence erupts during the European Cup final. This year, Blackman will also appear in Dutch director Tom Ranshoff’s feature debut, The First Zone, and Peter Kruger’s The Magic Age. Additionally, she is currently preparing for her feature directorial debut.
Joe’s Browers
Netherlands
Browers began his acting career at the age of eight and has an impressively diverse list of credits in theater, film, and television, including Jasmila Zbanic’s Oscar-nominated feature film Quo Vadis, Aida? In 2026, he will appear in Dutch director Sander Berger’s 1980s historical drama Yuri, playing the role of a journalist who develops a relationship with Yuri Egorov, a world-famous Soviet refugee concert pianist. The jury noted that he had the “dignity and ingredients to become a major movie star.”
Fatorme Bunjaku
Albania
Bunjaku, a Kosovo-Albanian, combines her career as an actress with her job as a performing arts professor. She has been acting in film and theater since 2013, and the judges commented on her “commanding screen presence”, saying: “You can see her dance background in her physicality, the way her spine changes from one performance to another. It will be very exciting to see what she does next.” Bunjaku has written his first short film, “Visa, Champagne, and Sandwiches,” which is currently in production.
Salif Cissé
France
Cisse, who was named one of this year’s UniFrance 10 people to watch, discovered her passion for acting during a high school workshop. He made his feature debut in 2020 with All Hands on Deck, for which he was nominated for the Cesar Award for Most Promising Actor. He demonstrated his talent for blending pathos and comedy in “Filmlovers!” and “Who’s Calling?” and “Meteor,” which brought real humanity to his antihero. After directing the short film “Allies” in 2024, he plans to make his feature directorial debut.
Cleo Diarra
Portugal
Born in Cape Verde, the talented actress moved to Lisbon during her childhood, where she discovered her love for theater. Since then, she has appeared in many acclaimed stage productions, bringing the same energy and authenticity to her on-screen performances. For her starring role in Pedro Pinho’s “Rest in the Storm”, Diarra won the prestigious “Un Certain Regard” Award, Best Actor at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. In the same year, she also appeared in the Cannes ACID title “Night Passengers”. She will soon be starring in the Prime Video original series “Lisbon Noir” directed by Arthur Ribeiro.
lucas englander
Austria
The multilingual Vienna-born performer has been busy over the past few years with international projects, including the hit miniseries Nine Perfect Strangers and Transatlantic, in which he co-starred with Nicole Kidman. After making the latter, he became an ambassador for the International Rescue Committee. The actor, who trained at New York City’s Stella Adler School of Acting, will next star in Das Café ohne Namen, directed by Adrian Goiginger. He has two projects in development: “Quand Le Monde Nous Regardera” by Theo Hellermann and “Bruno, der junge Kreisky” by Harald Sikeritz.
Daniel Galligan
Ireland
Galligan, who currently embodies the charming Irish historical figure Lady Olivia Hedges-White in the Netflix series House of Guinness, also boasts a variety of credits in other notable TV series, including Game of Thrones (Sarah Frey), Shadow and Bone (Nina) and The Walsh Sisters (Claire). On the big screen, she made an impression in “Lakelands” and “Spirited Milk.” Upcoming features include Sam Johnson’s debut “A Rare Breed” and John Madden’s “But When We Dance.” Jurors called her a “charismatic and transformative talent.”
Tekla Insoria
Italy
Insolia’s musical talent, having studied music since the age of five, and her award-winning role in the Sky Original miniseries ‘The Art of Joy’ made her the perfect choice for the lead role in opera director Damiano Michieletto’s feature debut ‘Primavera’. In it, she plays a vibrant and rebellious convent girl violinist who was trained by composer Antonio Vivaldi. The youngest of the Shooting Stars, she also supported several pop/rock singles.
Sofia Certa Sidnes
Norway
The Norwegian actress, often credited simply as Sofia Czerta, has a key role in director Ruben Østlund’s The Entertainment System Is Down, perhaps the most anticipated title of 2026, playing the daughter of Daniel Brühl and Kirsten Dunst. In real life, this budding talent is a descendant of Norwegian performers Pia Czerta and Kire Haugen Sidnes. She established herself as a rising talent in the TV series “Delete Me” and then appeared in the Netflix miniseries “Midsomer Nights.”
Enno Treves
Germany
Like fellow shooting star Jaws Browers, Treves’ film credits date back to his youth, with the most famous including Michael Haneke’s The White Ribbon. The collaboration with German author Christian Petzold covers three titles: “Undine,” “Afire,” and “Mirrors No. 3.” This year, he is the lead role in “Echoes of Tomorrow’s War,” directed by helmer Nicolas Ehret. The judges praised him as “a powerful and precise actor who combines youthful energy with a unique maturity.”
