Alexej Manvelov and Shima Niavarani will join the Stockholm Rising Star Award jury

For the 12th consecutive year, Stockholm International Film Festival will honor a new talent with the Stockholm Rising Star Award. The award is given to an actor or actress who has made outstanding performances on film and thus has the opportunity to become a future star. This year, actor Alexej Manvelov and actress Shima Niavarani will join the jury to select a worthy winner among several nominees. Alexej has been praised for his brilliant efforts in, among others, the HBO success Chernobyl and the Sveriges Television productions Jordskott and Before We Die. He is currently seen in the Top Dog thriller series on Swedish TV4. Shima was recently acclaimed for her role in the musical A Piece of My Heart and has performed on stage, film and in several comedy series on Swedish television. Shima was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role at the Guldbagge Awards 2015 for her stunning performance in She’s Wild Again Tonight. The Stockholm Rising Star Award 2020 ceremony will take place during the festival later in November.

The purpose of the award is to highlight new acting talents early in their careers and invite them to the Stockholm Film Festival where they get the opportunity to establish further contacts within the film industry. Previous Stockholm Rising Star winners are Malin Crépin (2008), Anastasios Soulis (2009), Alicia Vikander (2010), Malin Buska (2011), Nermina Lukac (2012), Adam Lundgren (2013), Julia Ragnarsson (2014), Aliette Opheim (2015), Filip Berg (2016), Gustav Lindh (2017), Alba August (2018) and Celie Sparre (2019).

Additional jury members are Anna Carlson Nordqvist (former President, The Swedish Union for Performing Arts and Film), Lisa Rosengren Lagercrantz (Swedish Film & TV Producers Association) and Jan Göransson (The Swedish Film Institute).

– Getting to participate in this year’s Rising Star jury is extremely fun. I’m really passionate about motivating and supporting young talents, and every opportunity to help them is a gift to us, says Alexej Manvelov, actor

– It’s an honor to be able to highlight a young talent. Especially during the ongoing pandemic where festivals are cancelled and films don’t get a chance to appear on screens. Consequently, it feels even more relevant to share and promote all talents this specific year. I hope this can be a push forward in the right direction for the winner. Furthermore, it’s great fun to be able to sit down with such a professional jury, says Shima Niavarani, actress

– I’m really proud of all the incredibly talented actors and actresses in Sweden. Being such a small country, we still manage to produce an unusual amount of world-class acting. Our ambition is to do everything it takes to make Stockholm Rising Star 2020 shine in Sweden and all across the globe, says Git Scheynius, Festival Director