This year’s European Shooting Stars step into the spotlight in front of the Berlinale Palast, celebrating a festive highlight of their journey at the Berlin International Film Festival. Surrounded by photographers and festival guests, Europe’s most promising acting talents embrace their moment on the red carpet, sharing it with the festival audience.
The European Shooting Stars 2026 are: Fatlume Bunjaku (Albania), Lucas Englander (Austria), Violet Braeckman (Belgium), Salif Cissé (France), Enno Trebs (Germany), Danielle Galligan (Ireland), Tecla Insolia (Italy), Joes Brauers (The Netherlands), Sofia Tjelta Sydness (Norway) and Cleo Diára (Portugal).
Following the red-carpet celebration and the official welcome in the Berlinale Palast, the evening continues with the European Film Promotion Gala Dinner – an exclusive awards night held in honor of this year’s talents. In the presence of around one hundred distinguished guests including former Shooting Stars, acclaimed directors and producers, festival representatives, film teams from Competition titles, and international press representatives the ten actors are presented with the European Shooting Stars Awards in a festive setting.
The ceremony marks the grand finale of three intensive days of networking and exchange with the international jury, casting directors, producers and journalists, alongside a fully booked and vibrant public showcase at the Berlinale Hub.
EUROPEAN SHOOTING STARS is made possible thanks to the support of Creative Europe – the MEDIA Programme of the European Union, the German Federal Commissioner for Culture and Media, the Berlin International Film Festival, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, MOIN Film Fund Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, Hessen Film & Medien, Spotlight, Filmmakers Europe, the International Casting Directors Association (ICDA) and the Casting Society (CSA), as well as the participating national film promotion institutes and film centres from the Shooting Stars’ countries (EFP’s member organisations). With special thanks to German Films, Albanian National Center of Cinematography, AUSTRIAN FILMS, Cinecittà (Italy), Flanders Image (Belgium), ICA - Instituto do Cinema e do Audiovisual I.P. (Portugal), SEE NL (The Netherlands), Norwegian Film Institute, Screen Ireland and Unifrance. EUROPEAN SHOOTING STARS’ main media partner is Variety, with additional media partners Screen International, Cineuropa, THE SPOT media & film, HeyUGuys, Fred Film Radio and Festival Scope.
