Berlinale: Award for "The Circle" Actor
A great honor for the young Swiss actor Sven Schelker: The 25-year-old from Basel was presented with the Shooting Star Award at the 65th Berlinale in 2015. Natalie Portman presented him with the award.
Schelker made his feature film debut as Röbi Rapp in Stefan Haupt's hit Swiss film "The Circle." On Monday, Sven Schelker stepped into the spotlight of the international film scene when he walked the legendary red carpet into the Berlinale Palast with festival director Dieter Kosslick, event patron Natalie Portman and his fellow award-winning European Shooting Stars 2015 colleagues.
The moment on the Red Carpet was followed by the Award Ceremony, where the celebrated Hollywood star, as godmother of the evening, individually presented the 10 most promising European acting talents and awarded them with the Shooting Star Trophy.
With the Shooting Stars Award, the European Film Promotion (EFP) annually promotes the most talented young actors in Europe. The Swiss Sven Schelker won against the best young actors with just one film and, as a member of the selected Top 10, was allowed to spend a week at the Berlin Film Festival establishing relationships with important casters, film producers and other people from the international film industry.
Sven Schelker
25-year-old Sven Schelker from Basel completed his acting studies at the Otto Falckenberg School in Munich. In 2010 and 2011, he received the Migros Culture Percentage study prize in the field of acting. Since 2012 he has been a permanent ensemble member at the Thalia Theater Hamburg. The multiple award-winning Swiss film "Der Kreis" directed by Stefan Haupt and produced by Contrast Film Zurich is Schelker's first feature film experience.
The Circle": Successes at the Golden Globes and the Swiss Film Awards
"The Circle" entered the Oscar race for Best Foreign Language Film in fall 2014 as the official Swiss entry (Werbewoche.ch reported). The film did not receive an Oscar nomination, but still achieved a historic success: "The Circle" managed to convince the Hollywood Foreign Press Association HFPA and qualify for the Golden Globes, the second most important award in the film industry (Werbewoche.ch reported). No other Swiss film has achieved this in the last 20 years (source: Swiss Films). In addition, "The Circle" received five nominations at the Swiss Film Awards two weeks ago. The film has been sold to more than 18 countries on four continents so far and will be screened at its 100th international film festival before the end of February. "The Circle" is currently showing in cinemas in Switzerland at Stüssihof Zurich.
Ten European Shooting Stars
In addition to Sven Schelker, the following European actors have been awarded Shootings Stars: Joachim Fjelstrup (Denmark), Jannis Niewöhner (Germany), Emmi Pavianen (Finland), Hera Hilmar (Iceland), Moe Dunford (Ireland), Aistė Diržiūtė (Lithuania), Abbey Hoes (Netherlands), Natalia de Molina (Spain) and Maisie Williams (England).
Images: Vittorio Zunino Celotto / Getty Images for European Shootings Stars 2015 / Swiss Films / Contrast Film
