See European Shooting Stars Levan Gelbakhiani, Irakli Kvirikadze speak about award, film careers [VIDEO]
Levan Gelbakhiani (pictured sixth from left) was unveiled alongside nine other actors as winner of the European Shooting Stars award at the Berlin International Film Festival that opened last week. Photo: Andreas Renz.
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Georgia's young cinema talents Levan Gelbakhiani and Irakli Kvirikadze, winners of the European Shooting Stars awards in 2020 and 2018 respectively, have been interviewed for their take on the prize and its effect on their burgeoning careers in film.
Gelbakhiani, unveiled alongside 9 other European actors for the honour at the Berlin International Film Festival this week, and Kvirikadze, distinguished with the award two years ago, speak in their video profile produced by Movement media platform.
Released as the Berlinale opened in the German capital last week, the video also shows the two Georgian recipients of the European emerging talent recognition speak about their path to the selection and about their roles that marked their breakthrough on the international scene.
Gelbakhiani, 22, was selected for the ESS prize - handed out by the European Film Promotion - after his role as the protagonist of director Levan Akin's award-finning feature And Then We Danced.
Along with prizes for the filmmaker and the feature itself, the actor was singled out for Best Actor Awards of the Sarajevo and Valladolid film festivals.
An EFP jury praised the actor as a "master of physical elegance and psychological sensitivity" after seeing him in the drama. Gelbakhiani was nominated for the Europe-wide prize by the Georgian National Film Centre.
Kvirikadze earned his spot among ESS winners in 2018 after impressing the juries with his "natural presence and overwhelming energy" in Rezo Gigineishvili's feature drama Hostages.
Georgia's emerging acting talent Levan Gelbakhiani is one of 10 young performers selected as this year's European Shooting Stars by the European Film Promotion and will be unveiled to the Berlin International Film Festival audience to accept the award next month.
Young Georgian actor Irakli Kvirikadze has been named among 2018’s ten most talented, up-and-coming actors from all over Europe, who are ready to step out onto the international film scene.
Young Georgian actor Irakli Kvirikadze has been awarded as one of the ten most talented, up-and-coming actors from all over Europe in 2018, who are ready to step out onto the international film scene. Kvirikadze was praised for his truly impressive performance in Rezo Gigineishvili’s 2017 feature Hostages.
Georgia’s Irakli Kvirikadze is featured in a trailer for the 10 most talented young actors throughout Europe, as selected by the European Film Promotion (EFP) ahead of their unveiling at the Berlinale Film Festival this month.
Georgian actor Levan Gelbakhiani has claimed latest round of plaudits for his performance in filmmaker Levan Akin's feature And Then We Danced after collecting the Best Actor Award at Spain's Valladolid International Film Festival last weekend, with the film itself also honoured at the event.
Actor Levan Gelbakhiani, cast as the principal protagonist of the newly released feature And Then We Danced by filmmaker Levan Akin, has been unveiled as the winner of the Best Actor Award at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
Swedish-Georgian co-production And Then We Danced has been named among The Guardian’s top 50 best films of 2020 in the United Kingdom. "Intense, winning romance about two male performers who spark a secret relationship in the ultra-conservative world of traditional Georgian dance”, The Guardian says.
Young Georgian actors Elene Makharashvili and Nini Nebieridze are in shooting for Oscar-nominated director Phedon Papamichael's new thriller Light Falls, with the feature set to premiere next year.