Orange Rising Star Award Nominations

Today at BAFTA Headquarters, the 2009 winner Noel Clarke announced the hotly anticipated nominee list for the Orange Rising Star Award 2010. The award recognises five international actors and actresses whose talent has inspired popular acclaim from the British public. The Nominations are: Jesse Eisenberg, Nicholas Hoult, Carey Mulligan, Tahar Rahim and Kristen Stewart.

Orange’s accolade for up and coming talent is the only award at the Orange British Academy Film Awards to be voted for by the public. Voting takes place both on the orange.co.uk/bafta and via text

• . The winner will be announced at the Orange British Academy Film Awards on Sunday 21 February 2010.

To vote by text:

Now in its fifth year, the award has set a standard for identifying talent destined for super-stardom. Previous winners include James McAvoy in 2006, Eva Green in 2007, Shia LaBeouf in 2008 and Noel Clarke in 2009. Potential Rising Stars were proposed by BAFTA members and film industry insiders to create an initial long list of names. The jury, consisting of actors, casting directors, producers, media representatives and BAFTA Film Committee members, then selected the final five nominees via a secret ballot.

Noel Clarke, winner of 2009’s Orange Rising Star Award commented: “Winning the Orange Rising Star Award in 2009 was the highlight of my year. The fact that the award is the only one voted for by the public made it even more special. Since winning I have gone on to direct a brand new feature which is due to be released in the summer and I hope this year’s winner finds the accolade as beneficial to their career as I have.”

Hattie Magee, Head of Partnerships at Orange, “This year we are celebrating the fifth anniversary of the Orange Rising Star Award. Over the last four years we have presented the award to an impressive list of recipients who have gone on to achieve great things. We wish all of this year’s nominees the best of luck for the big night. Orange is proud to be involved in an award that enables communities of film fans to come together and get closer to the Orange British Academy Film Awards.”

David Parfitt, Chairman of BAFTA, said: “We are excited to be working with Orange again. The Orange Rising Star Award nominee list is as strong as ever and is sure to be one of the most anticipated awards of the night.”

This year’s Orange Rising Star Award jury is made up of: Noel Clarke (actor & director), Pippa Harris (producer), Jason Isaacs (actor), Fiona Weir (casting director), Charles Gant (film journalist), Simon Morris (LoveFilm), Kate Lee (Freud Communications), Melvin Odoom (KISS 100), Nev Pierce (Empire), Hannah Marriott (Grazia), Larushka Ivan Zadeh (Metro) and Jason Solomons (The Observer). The jury was chaired by David Parfitt (producer, Chairman of BAFTA).

Nominations were open to up and coming performers who have appeared in several feature films, with at least one of those films released in the current awards year, 1 January to 31 December 2009, with an extension period from 1 January to 19 February 2010.

The Orange Rising Star Award was created in honour of Mary Selway, the highly respected BAFTA-winning casting director whose career spanned three decades and over ninety films before she died in 2004. She worked with notable directors such as Steven Spielberg, Roman Polanski, Clint Eastwood and Ridley Scott, contributing to the creation of some of the silver screen's most memorable characters.

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For more information on the Orange Rising Star Award go to www.orange.co.uk/bafta

• *Texts cost 25p plus a standard network charge. Network charges may vary.

For more information please contact:

Holly Ferguson or Claire Timlett at M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment:
Tel: 0207 544 3855/4580
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]