Souheila Yacoub is Switzerland’s Shooting Star 2022
“Passionate and vulnerable – a shooting star in the truest sense”
13.01.2022
Swiss actress Souheila Yacoub will be honoured as a European Shooting Star at the 72nd Berlinale in February. The actress from Geneva has worked with renowned directors such as Gaspard Noé and Phillippe Garrel. She is one of 10 European actors with international potential selected by a jury for the European Film Promotion’s talent programme.
Souheila Yacoub was born to a Flemish mother and Tunisian father in Geneva in 1992. As a teenager she was on the Swiss National Rhythmic Gymnastics team and attended a theatre and dance school. She continued her education in Paris with a scholarship and later entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur d'Art Dramatique.
From theatre to film
With her role in the multi-lingual play TOUS DES OISEAUX by Wajdi Mouawad, Souheila Yacoub caught the attention of the press and public. The film world soon began to take notice and her career gained momentum. For her supporting role in Gaspard Noé’s CLIMAX, which premiered in Cannes in 2019, she was celebrated as a “revelation” by the Académie des César and was soon considered a star in francophone countries.
Career move to Berlin and Cannes
The Berlinale audience had the opportunity to discover Souheila Yacoub in 2020 in the French-Swiss coproduction LE SEL DES LARMES (THE SALT OF TEARS) by Philippe Garrel. She was also seen in high-profile series, such as in one of the leading roles in LES SAUVAGES, directed by Rebecca Zlotowski, or in the Arte/Hulu epic war series NO MAN'S LAND by Oded Ruskin. In 2021 Souheila Yacoub caused a stir in Cannes with the intensity of her acting in two films screened in Directors Fortnight: as the protagonist in ENTRE LES VAGUES (THE BRAVES) by Anaïs Volpé and in DE BAS ÉTAGE (A BRIGHTER TOMORROW) by Yassine Qnia.
In 2022 Yacoub will feature on the big screen with Cédric Klapisch’s dance film EN CORPS, as well as in AVANT L’EFFONDREMENT, the debut film by Alice and Benoît Zeniter. The European Shooting Stars jury praised her “extraordinary ability to empathise with her characters and thus evoke a strong emotional resonance”.
European film and talent promotion
During the Berlinale, the Shooting Stars will have the opportunity to meet with international film professionals and casting agents as well as participate in networking events. The European Shooting Stars will be in the spotlight at a glamorous award ceremony in the Berlinale Palast on Monday, February 14.
In addition to Souheila Yacoub, the following actors and actresses have been selected as Shootings Stars: Gracija Filipović (Croatia), Marie Reuther (Denmark), Anamaria Vartolomei (France), Emilio Sakraya (Germany), Clare Dunne (Ireland), Hanna van Vliet (Netherlands), João Nunes Monteiro (Portugal), Timon Šturbej (Slovenia) and Evin Ahmad (Sweden).
Previous Shooting Stars from Switzerland include, among others, Joel Basman (TV series ELDORADO KADEWE), Sven Schelker (UND MORGEN SEID IHR TOT), Kacey Mottet Klein (JUST KIDS) or most recently Luna Wedler (JE SUIS KARL) and Ella Rumpf (TV series SUCCESSION).
European Film Promotion (EFP) is the international network comprised of European promotion organisations from 37 countries working together to showcase the diversity of European cinema and its talents at film festivals and film markets worldwide. SWISS FILMS is one of the ten founding members. SWISS FILMS, the national agency for the promotion of films made in Switzerland, strengthens the international presence of Swiss film productions on behalf of the Federal Office of Culture.
More Info
Contact for Swiss press:
Laura Daniel, SWISS FILMS
ldaniel@swissfilms.ch
International press:
Helen Peetzen, EFP Press & Communications
peetzen@efp-online.com
Souheila Yacoub is represented by the following agency:
Comment by the Shooting Stars Jury:
“With an emotionally captivating performance, Souheila Yacoub displays a tremendous ability to empathize with her characters in a way that evokes a strong resonance. Her explosive energy is balanced with forthright candidness and pensiveness. Embracing passion and vulnerability at the same time, she is a revelation and a shooting star in the truest sense.”