Toronto International Film Festival Announces 2019 International Rising Stars

By: Kaitlin Milligan Aug. 15, 2019

TIFF Co-Heads Cameron Bailey and Joana Vicente announced today the new lineup of international TIFF Rising Stars: Chino Darín, Geraldine Viswanathan, Kelvin Harrison Jr., and Josefine Frida. Now in its ninth year, the programme showcases burgeoning young actors who will join the previously announced Canadian TIFF Rising Stars, Kacey Rohl, Mikhaïl Ahooja, Nahéma Ricci, and Shamier Anderson.

"These four talents - along with their Canadian counterparts - are on the verge of making big waves on the international stage," s aid Bailey, Artistic Director and Co-Head of TIFF. "We can't wait for Toronto audiences to witness their breakout performances at this year's Festival."

The TIFF Rising Stars programme will provide the actors with an exclusive opportunity to experience and engage with the Festival. They will have access to professional development sessions, Industry events, red carpets, mentorship, and valuable networking opportunities.

All international Rising Stars are featured in films in TIFF 2019's Official Selection. Chino Darín stars in Sebastian Borensztein's Heroic Losers, about neighbours in rural Argentina who are swindled out of their savings and join forces to take back what's theirs. Geraldine Viswanathan is featured alongside Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney, and Ray Romano in Cory Finley's World Premiere of Bad Education, a fact-based dramedy about an infamous school-larceny scandal that rocked Long Island in the early 2000s. Viswanathan also stars in Hala, about an American Muslim teenager balancing her relationship with her protective Pakistani immigrant parents and her own independent desires. Kelvin Harrison Jr. appears in Trey Edward Shults's Waves, a coming-of-age drama that documents the crumbling façade of a young athlete's seemingly perfect life. Josefine Frida stars in Jorunn Mykle bust Syversen's Disco as a champion dancer who begins to falter, prompting her to search for radical solutions.

International Rising Stars alumni include Jessie Buckley, who returns to the Festival this year in the film Judy.

About the Rising Stars

Chino Darín

Chino Darín is most known for his breakout performance as Alejandro Puccio in the TV series Historia de un clan (15). His film credits include T he Queen of Spain (16), A Twelve-Year Night (18), El Angel (18), and H eroic Losers, which will be premiering at TIFF 2019 as part of the Special Presentations programme. He is THE SON of the renowned Argentine actor Ricardo Darín.

Geraldine Viswanathan

Geraldine Viswanathan is an Australian actor. Her credits include Blockers (18); the TV series M iracle Workers (19- ); Bad Education, which is making its World Premiere as a Special Presentation at TIFF 2019; and H ala , also premiering at the Festival in the Contemporary World Cinema programme. She is currently filming Natalie Krinsky'sromanticcomedyT heBrokenHeartGallery .

Kelvin Harrison Jr.

Kelvin Harrison Jr. is an American actor. In 2017, Filmmaker Magazine named him one of "25 New Faces of Independent Film." He first garnered attention in I t Comes at Night (17), which received critical acclaim and earned him a Gotham Independent Film Award nomination for Breakthrough Actor. Other credits include Monsters and Men (18), L uce (19), and Waves , which is premiering at TIFF 2019.

Josefine Frida

Josefine Frida is a Norwegian actor. Her credits include the TV series Skam ( 15-17), stage productions of the musicals Hair and R obin Hood , and the feature film Disco, which is making its World Premiere in the Discovery programme at TIFF 2019.