Macedonian actress Sara Klimoska has been shortlisted as one of the top ten up-and-coming European acting talents as part of the initiative of the European Film Promotion (EFP).

European Film Promotion, the group which organizes the European Shooting Stars program, will present the 10 talents to the international film industry, producers, agents, and the international press, in a three-day online event Feb. 23-25, a week before the industry events of the virtual 71st Berlin International Film Festival, held March 1-5. The Shooting Stars award ceremony will take place within the framework of the Berlinale screenings in the summer.

Besides Macedonia’s Sara Klimoska, who stars in Igor Aleksov’s feature film debut Lena and Vladimir, which will also be released this year, the other selected European Shooting Stars are Finland’s Seidi Haarla, France’s Nicolas Maury, Germany’s Albrecht Schuch, Hungary’s Natasa Stork, Ireland’s Fionn O’Shea, Lithuania’s Žygimantė Elena Jakštaitė, The Netherlands’ Martijn Lakemeier, Portugal’s Alba Baptista, and Sweden’s Gustav Lindh.

In Lena and Vladimir, Sara plays 16-year-old Lena, who has never fallen in love before, alongside the middle-aged Vladimir (Toni Naunovski), who has lost everything he loved before. Together they experience spring in a cold January and fall in love with life. The screenwriter is Aleksandar Rusjakov. The film is supported by the Macedonian Film Agency, which ill be released this year.

The program, which launches emerging European thespians onto the world stage, has boosted the careers of actors like Matilda de Angelis (The Undoing), Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman, The Great Gatsby), Alba Rohrwacher (Happy as Lazzaro), Oscar winner – Alicia Vikander (Tomb Raider), Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones), Riz Ahmed (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Mogul Mowgli- Berlinale 2020), George MacKay (1917), Louis Hofmann (Netflix’s Dark).