Marie Leuenberger is Swiss candidate for Shooting Stars in Berlin 2010
18.11.2009
The promotion agency, SWISS FILMS, has placed Swiss actress Marie Leuenberger in the running for the coveted award of Shooting Star, which will be presented by European Film Promotion (EFP) at the 60th International Film Festival in Berlin. The 29-year-old actress starred in the title role of Micha Lewinsky’s comedy “Die Standesbeamtin” and has already won two awards for Best Actress for her outstanding performance: at the World Film Festival in Montreal as well as with the Prix Swissperform Award in Geneva.
Ten Shooting Stars will be introduced at the Berlinale from February 13-15, 2010. Each of the 21 member organisations of EFP has nominated their prospective talent: SWISS FILMS has selected Marie Leuenberger as the Swiss candidate. A prominent jury selects Europe’s new acting talent. As announced by EFP, members of the 2010 jury include: the acclaimed Czech actress Ana Geislerová (“Beauty in Trouble”), who was a Shooting Star herself in 2004; the award-winning Italian director Giuseppe Piccioni (“Giulia Doesn’t Date At Night”); the renowned German producer Karl Baumgartner (Pandora Film); the international casting director Leo Davis from Great Britain (“The Queen”); and Steven Gaydos, author and executive editor of the international film magazine “Variety”, USA. The jury will make its decision at the beginning of December.
Marie Leuenberger began acting at junges theater Basel (1996 to 1999). Following her acting studies at the Otto-Falckenberg School of Drama in Munich (1999 to 2002), she rapidly launched her acting career on major German stages. She performed at Bayerisches Staatsschauspiel in Munich, at Theater Basel, at Staatstheater Stuttgart and has been a member of the ensemble at Das Schauspielhaus in Hamburg since 2005. In 2007 she was honoured with the Young Talent Award from the Friends and Patrons of Das Schauspielhaus in Hamburg. Leuenberger’s film roles include, among others, in the Oscar-nominated short film “Auf der Strecke” by Reto Caffi. She played her first leading role in “Die Standesbeamtin”. Her award-winning film debut has gained her national and international acclaim: the comedy film, produced by Langfilm in Freienstein, ranked as the leading box-office hit in cinemas in Switzerland during the first half of 2009. It has been released in Germany and is well received by the press. It won the Audience Awards at the Biberach Film Festival 2009 (Audience Prize) and at the Hachenburg Film Festival 2009 (Golden Lion). The television film “Verstrickt und zugenäht” (director: Walter Weber) features Marie Leuenberger in her next leading role.
The Shooting Stars event has evolved into a label and become a talent exchange for actors from all over Europe. Switzerland’s former Shooting Stars were: 2009 Celine Bolomey (“Du bruit dans la tête”), 2008 Joel Basman (“Luftbusiness”), 2007 Nils Althaus (“Breakout”); 2006 Carlos Leal (“Snow White”), 2005 Johanna Bantzer (“Strähl”), 2004 Michael Koch (“Achtung, fertig, Charlie!”), 2003 Mona Petri (née Fueter / “Füür oder Flamme”), 2002 Michael Finger (“Utopia Blues”), 2001 Anne-Shlomit Deonna (“Potlatch”), 2000 Martin Rapold (“Exklusiv”) and 1999 Soraya Gomaa (“Vollmond”).
Zurich, November 18, 2009