Mona Fueter – Swiss Shooting Star 2003 at the 53rd Berlin International Film Festival
17.01.2003
In the turbulent comedy “Füür oder Flamme” (Fire or Flame), she plays the role of the powerful actress Tina Müller who – overnight – achieves stardom and becomes pregnant yet in her mind cannot decide between two possible fathers: 26-year-old Mona Fueter’s impressive performance, her intense magnetism and natural acting ability, has already won her a nomination for the 2003 Swiss Film Prize awarded in Solothurn on January 22. The talented and widely praised newcomer will be representing Switzerland in the 6th edition of “Shooting Stars” at the Berlinale from February 8-11, 2003. This event draws much interest and provides a forum for talented European up-and-coming actresses and actors.
Since 1998, the European Film Promotion (EFP), an umbrella organization of national film promotion agencies from 20 European countries, has organized the unique Shooting Starts initiative and presented Europe’s next wave of acting talents to a larger audience. This year, the event will introduce nineteen hopefuls, each from a different European country, into the limelight of Berlin‘s Potsdam Square and promote them to the international film critics. Each talent has been nominated by his or her country’s membership organization of EFP (in Switzerland represented by the Swiss Film Center). Over the course of four days, the Shooting Stars will participate in various workshops and events with producers and casting agencies. They will have a chance to introduce themselves to the media at an exclusive press luncheon and will be awarded a “Shooting Star” at the Berlinale Palace by festival director Dieter Kosslick.
This year’s Swiss Shooting Star Mona Fueter joined the newly formed theatre cast at the Karlsruhe Staatstheater, Germany, in summer of 2002 and currently performs in four productions at the playhouse: As Jessica in “The Merchant of Venice” by William Sheakespeare, as Recha in “Nathan the Wise” by Gotthold E. Lessing, as Ikuko in “Tropical Tree” by Yukio Mishima, and as Evelyn in “The Shape of Things” by Neil LaBute. After graduating from the Berne Conservatory in Berne, Switzerland, Mona Fueter was cast at the Landestheater in Tübingen, Germany, from 1997 to 2001. Lauded as “a discovery“ by the major Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Mona Fueter has earned considerable recognition for her role in the 2001 television movie «Big Deal» (directed by Markus Fischer). In “Füür oder Flamme”, also directed by Markus Fischer, she again displays her superior acting talent, receiving much praise for her outstanding performance.
Recent Swiss actors and actresses representing Switzerland as Shooting Stars were Michael Finger (“Utopia Blues”) in 2002, Anne-Shlomit Deonna (“Potlatch”) in 2001, Martin Rapold (“Exklusiv”) in 2000, and Ticino-born Soraya Gomaa (“Vollmond”) in 1999. Mona Fueter will now have a chance as the fifth Swiss actress to present herself to the public, media, and international film industry in the context of “Europe’s New Acting Talent”.
Zurich, Jan 7, 2003