Young Dubrovnik actress Gracija Filipović was presented with the Shooting Stars award at the ceremony during the 71st Berlinale. The prestigious award is presented every year to the greatest young acting hopes by the European organization of national film agencies, European Film Promotion.
The Shooting Stars Award Ceremony took place at the Berlinale Palace and Natalia De Molina, the actress from the ‘Un año, una noche’ by director Isaki Lacuesta, presented the Shooting Stars awards to ten young acting hopefuls, including our Gracija Filipović.
Presenting Gracija, the host pointed out that she is, in addition to being an actress, also a swimmer, step dancer and biology student, and asked her how she manages to combine all these seemingly incompatible activities.
“It’s quite normal for me, all this knowledge and skills are important to me, because thanks to them I managed to learn a lot about myself and the world, and also gained invaluable experiences that are stimulating me on the one hand and keeping me firmly on the ground on the other,” Gracija said.
Gracija is the youngest winner of the Shooting Stars Award this year and one of the youngest participants in general. She is also only the fourth Croatian actress to be admitted to the program.
European Shooting Stars is a project organized by the European Film Promotion (EFP), a European organization of national film agencies created with the aim of networking on joint projects to promote European film talent around the world. EFP has been organizing several programs at prestigious world festivals for years (Cannes, Karlovy Vary, Busan, Toronto), and the Croatian Audiovisual Center has been a member since 2009.
Some of the program’s current attendees include Carey Mulligan, Alicia Vikander, Maisie Williams, Riz Ahmed, George MacKay, Domhnall Gleeson, Daniel Brühl and many others.