Actress Leonie Benesch is Germany’s Shooting Star 2023 – the Filmstiftung congratulates!

• Presentation of the 10 European Shooting Stars at the 73rd Berlinale
• Filmstiftung has been supporting the European Film Promotion programme since 1998

The European Film Promotion (EFP) has just announced the ten actors and actresses who will be presented as European Shooting Stars 2023 at the 73rd Berlinale. The Shooting Stars programme enables the talents to make contact with casting directors, producers, filmmakers and the international press during the festival and to expand their network. The selection was made by an international jury. Actress Leonie Benesch was selected to represent Germany.

Petra Müller, CEO of the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW: "Congratulations to Leonie Benesch who has attracted attention in recent years with numerous strong roles! We congratulate her on being accepted into the European Shooting Stars programme which has helped many actors to achieve their international breakthrough."

Born in Hamburg in 1991, Leonie Benesch studied at the London Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She came to international attention in one of the leads of Michael Haneke’s "The White Ribbon" which was awarded the Palme d’Or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, , among other things. Leonie Benesch’s was herself recognised for her performance by the US Young Artist Award and the Bunte New Faces Award. This was followed by appearances in such feature films as "Colours In The Dark" by Sophie Heldmann with Senta Berger and Bruno Ganz and the Netflix series "The Crown". Leonie Benesch received the German Actors’ Award in the Best Supporting Actress category for her performance in the Filmstiftung-backed hit series "Babylon Berlin" by the creative trio of directors Tom Tykwer, Achim von Borries and Henk Handloegten. She also starred in Heinrich Breloer’s Filmstiftung-backed TV two-parter "Brecht" which was presented as a Special screening at the 2019 Berlinale. Benesch’s most recent roles have included for the feature film "The Teachers’ Lounge" (theatrical release May 2023) and the ZDF thriller series "The Swarm", which is based on the novel by Frank Schätzing and is scheduled to air in spring 2023.

Other Shooting Stars this year are: Joely Mbundu (Belgium), Alina Tomnikov (Finland), Thorvaldur David Kristjansson (Iceland), Benedetta Porcaroli (Italy), Yannick Jozefzoon (The Netherlands), Kristine Kujath Thorp (Norway), Judith State (Romania), Gizem Erdogan (Sweden) and Kayije Kagame (Switzerland).

The European Shooting Stars programme is supported, among others, by Creative Europe – MEDIA Programme of the EU and the participating EFP member organisations. The initiative of the European Shooting Stars has existed since 1998 and will thus now be holding its 26th edition this year. The presentation at the Berlinale was supported by the  Film- und Medienstiftung NRW from the very outset. Previous German Shooting Stars included Emilio Sakraya, Albrecht Schuch, Emma Drogunova, Nina Hoss, Louis Hofmann, Jella Haase, Franz Rogowski, Anna Maria Mühe, Moritz Bleibtreu and Jürgen Vogel.