2004 - Hamburg, Germany

Shooting Stars at the Hamburg Film Festival

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Shooting Stars on the red carpet, before the Festival’s Opening Ceremony. From left: Angelo Torres (Portugal), Michael Koch (Switzerland), Maria Simon (Germany), Irina Björklund (Finland) and Georg Friedrich (Austria)
© Andre Poling

8 September 2004. European Film Promotion (EFP) is bringing Shooting Stars to Filmfest Hamburg for the second time. This year five of these highly promising European actors will present their current films in the Hanseatic city of Hamburg.

EFP developed the Touring Shooting Stars Film Programme in 2002 in order to involve the young actors directly in the promotion of their films and enhance their chances for international sales and distribution. EFP brings Shooting Stars to European partner festivals where the newcomers and their films are presented. The Touring Shooting Stars Film Programme, which is supported by the MEDIA Programme of the EU, kicked off this year at the Cabourg Film Festival in France (June), moves to Filmfest Hamburg in September and then in December to Barcelona. There, all 21 of this year’s Shooting Stars will be introduced during the awards ceremony for the European Film Award on December 11, 2004.

EFP has been bringing a group of around 20 Shooting Stars to the Berlin International Film Festival every year since 1998 to meet with important people from the film industry, the press and the public. In this way, EFP helps young talent to build up an international network and to make a name for themselves beyond their own national borders.

EFP, founded in 1997, is a network located in Hamburg in which promotion and export organisations from 23 European countries cooperate in their aim to help establish a European cinema culture. Europe’s aspiring young film talent from the areas of acting, directing and producing are supported in their international endeavours through a series of promotional measures. A further task of EFP consists of expanding the presence of European films at international film festivals and markets. EFP is financially supported by the MEDIA Programme of the European Union. The Hamburg office also receives financial assistance from the Hamburg Office of Cultural Affairs as well as from the Minister of State for Cultural and Media Affairs (BKM).

Shooting Stars presenting their films at Filmfest Hamburg:

Irina Björklund (Finland) Land of Love by Ilkka Vanne
Georg Friedrich (Austria) Nacktschnecken by Michael Glawogger
Michael Koch (Switzerland) Achtung, Fertig, Charlie! by Mike Eschmann
Maria Simon (Germany) Minenspiel (TV/Tatort) by Torsten C. Fischer
Ângelo Torres (Portugal) Fado Blues by Luis Galvão Teles