🌟 Introducing #TIFF20's Rising Stars: Sheila Atim, Rainbow Dickerson, Tanya Maniktala, and Madeleine Sims-Fewer
— TIFF Industry (@TIFF_Industry) August 24, 2020
The TIFF Rising Stars program, presented by @PlayOLG showcases the next generation of Canadian and International talent poised for stardom. https://t.co/KlzTlpAFej pic.twitter.com/WeiJnOnAca
We know 2020 is an unusual year for film, even Canadian film. The pandemic has affected the TIFF Rising Stars on the 10th anniversary. Each year, TIFF selects 4 young Canadians and 4 international actors as promising young talent to watch.
Finding 4 Canadians among the limited number of Canadian films in 2020 is a challenge. We have 4 total 2020 TIFF Rising Stars with a single Canadian in the group. Another is starring in a Canadian film.
We don't talk about the international participants since we are devoted to Canadians and Canadian film. TIFF has added international talent to the list since 2016. The only notable entry is American actor Josh Wiggins (2018) because of his work in Canadian films Mean Dreams and Giant Little Ones.
Madeleine Sims-Fewer is the lead actor, co-writer, co-director, and co-producer of Violation, the first feature after working on short films behind the camera. Sims-Fewer was born in Canada but grew up in England. Sims-Fewer has been working for the last few years with Dusty Mancinelli, including on Violation.
Rainbow Dickerson is an American actor making her feature film debut in Beans, the highly anticipated coming of age film from Tracey Deer. Deer will receive the TIFF Emerging Talent Award during the festival.
This is the first year that all of the 2020 TIFF Rising Stars are women.
2020 TIFF Canadian film preview
2019 TIFF Rising Stars
We feature the TIFF Rising Stars but don't always follow up on the impact of these young actors. Shamier Anderson was the only one we knew from the 2019 TIFF Rising Stars list.
This year, we thought looking back at some of the performers from the previous 9 years would be worthwhile. Some get a boost to an already established career. Others get the break they need with a film in the festival. Some get a reminder where you've seen them but can't always place a face.
2019 Rising Stars Kacey Rohl already had a leading role in a short-lived sitcom in Canada and the United States in Working the Engels. Rohl had dark hair in that role and no hair in White Lie. Rohl was the standout in an intriguing film.
2018 Rising Stars Jess Salgueiro has been kicking butt on Canadian TV and film. Salgueiro was marvelous in Workin' Moms in a small role and outstanding as the lead in Canadian Strain. Devery Jacobs made the list years after getting a well-deserved Best Actress nomination at the Canadian Screen Awards for her lead performance in Rhymes for Young Ghouls. Jacobs was also in Blood Quantum and the TV show Mohawk Girls. Michaela Kurimsky was quite good in Firecrackers.
2017 Rising Stars Théodore Pellerin jams in English and French. Shy in Never Steady, Never Still and rambunctious in Chien de Garde. Pellerin stands out in Genese | Genesis. He is captivating on screen. Worth watching in bad or strange films, because I have.
2016 Rising Stars were not famous to me in 2016 except for Sophie Nélisse, who won the 2012 Genie Award for best supporting actress for Monsieur Lazhar when she was 11. Jared Abrahamson made the cut for Hello Destroyer, a good performance in a flawed film. Abrahamson was quite good in the Canadian TV show Travelers. Grace Glowicki sneaked into my radar with Suck It Up, Cardinals, and Paper Year. Glowicki isn't the one you obviously see but you don't forget her. Mylène Mackay was impactful in Nelly and played different versions of the same person with Nélisse in Endorphine.
2015 Rising Stars Stephan James is the most famous on both sides of the border. Karelle Tremblay had wonderful lead performances in Our Loved Ones | Les Êtres chers, where Tremblay recived a Best Actress nomination at the Canadian Screen Awards, and The Fireflies Are Gone | La disparution des lucioles.
2014 Rising Stars Julia Sarah Stone plays mostly awkward characters with the grace of a much older actor. Wet Bum, The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom, Weirdos, Every Thing Will Be Fine, and even the horrible film Allure (not her fault) are only part of her wonderful catalogue. I first noticed Alexandre Landry in Gabrielle, which netted hum a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Canadian Screen Awards, as well as Denys Arcand's latest film The Fall of the American Empire.
2013 Risings Stars Evelyne Brochu and Cara Gee have made huge impacts on Canadian film and television. Gee excelled on Strange Empire, the short-lived feminist Western, and was great as the lead in Empire of Dirt, her feature film debut. Brochu was riveting on TV series such as Orphan Black and X Company. Her film work is mostly in French: Inch'Allah, Cafe de Flore, Tom at the Farm, Polytechnique, and last year's A Brother's Love | La femme de mon frère.
2012 Rising Stars Tatiana Maslany would make the All-Star team of Rising Stars. Maslany won the best actress Canadian Screen Awards in both TV and film categories in the same year (2017 The Other Half and Orphan Black). She is also the only Rising Star to win an Emmy (Orphan Black). Charlotte Sullivan had been around awhile before attaining Rising Star status. I know her mostly from her TV work on Rookie Blue and Mary Kills People. Connor Jessup has done mostly American TV shows but is known for breakout roles in Blackbird and Closet Monster.
2011 Rising Stars Sarah Gadon has come a long way since her small role in The Border TV series. Alias Grace is the obvious vehicle for her talent. Gadon has also worked with prominent Canadian directors Denis Villeneuve (Enemy) and David Cronenberg (A Dangerous Method; Cosmopolis; and Maps to the Stars. I've seen Katie Boland in Cardinals, Born to Be Blue, Daydream Nation, Gerontophilia among others.
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Here are the TIFF Rising Stars.
2011 Sarah Allen, Katie Boland, Sarah Gadon, Keon Mohajeri
2012 Tatiana Maslany, Connor Jessup, Charlotte Sullivan, Charlie Carrick
2013 Megan Park, Johnathan Sousa, Evelyne Brochu, Cara Gee
2014 Shannon Kook, Sophie Desmarais, Alexandre Landry, Julia Sarah Stone
2015 Deragh Campbell, Stephan James, Aliocha Schneider, Karelle Tremblay
2016 Jared Abrahamson, Grace Glowicki, Mylène Mackay, Sophie Nélisse
2017 Daniel Doheny, Mary Galloway, Théodore Pellerin, Ellen Wong
2018 Devery Jacobs, Lamar Johnson, Michaela Kurimsky, Jess Salgueiro
2019 Kacey Rohl, Mikhail Ahooja, Nahéma Ricci, Shamier Anderson
2020 Madeleine Sims-Fewer
You can find out more about these TIFF Rising Stars.
Twitter capture: @TIFF_Industry
photo credit: TIFF
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