Toronto International Film Festival Reveals 2017 TIFF Rising Stars

The Toronto International Film Festival is proud to introduce its participants for this year's TIFF Rising Stars programme: Daniel Doheny, Mary Galloway, Théodore Pellerin and Ellen Wong. In its seventh year, the annual professional development programme highlights a unique selection of Canada's most charismatic up-and-coming actors through a variety of dynamic events and industry meetings during the Festival.

"This diverse group of actors embodies the extraordinary charisma, motivation and dedication our emerging Canadian talent has to offer," said Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of TIFF. "We are honoured to be able to provide these artists with the opportunity to showcase their talent to world through our Rising Stars programme."

Three of the Rising Stars will also be attending the premieres of their films at this year's Festival. Doheny stars in Public Schooled with Judy Greer and Russell Peters, a high-school comedy about a genius home-school student who enrolls in public school to chase after his dream girl. In the family drama Never Steady, Never Still, Galloway and Pellerin star alongside Shirley Henderson, NICHOLAS CAMPBELL and 2016 TIFF Rising Star Jared Abrahamson. Directed by Kathleen Hepburn, the story follows Judy, who must fight to remain independent when her husband suffers a sudden heart attack - despite her advanced Parkinson's disease.

The TIFF Rising Stars will participate in specialized programming and events organized by TIFF's Industry team, including seminars with casting directors, one-on-one meetings with filmmakers, media training, and a series of unique networking opportunities.

Daniel Doheny
Daniel Doheny is a Jessie Award-winning actor and writer from Vancouver. He co-created and starred in a sketch comedy series for CBC television called HumanTown (2016) and has been a player in Vancouver's Bard on the Beach Shakespeare festival four summers in a row. His film credits include Public Schooled, which will be screening at this year's Festival, and Alex Strangelove, an upcoming Netflix film. Doheny is a graduate of Studio 58.

Mary Galloway
Mary Galloway is a Canadian writer, producer, director and actor currently living in LA. Her company Bright Shadow Productions' first short, Ariel Unraveling (2016), was awarded BravoFACT and CreativeBC funding. In September 2016, Galloway made her directorial debut with the upcoming Unintentional Mother, the only Canadian film to be awarded the Kevin Spacey Foundation's Artists of Choice Award. Recently, Women In Film + Television Vancouver honourEd Galloway with the Newcomer Award, while the Whistler Film Festival presented her with the Talent to Watch Award. She will also appear in Kathleen Hepburn's Never Steady, Never Still, premiering at TIFF this year.

Théodore Pellerin
Théodore Pellerin is an actor from Montreal. After being directed by André Turpin (Endorphine, 2015), Philippe Lesage (Les Demons, 2015), and Xavier Dolan (Juste la fin du monde, 2016), the young actor appeared on stage for the first time in in LAB87's production of Yen (2015), written by Anna Jordan. In 2016, Pellerin starred in five feature films in both French and English, including Sophie Dupuis's Chien de garde (2016), Jason Stone's First Light (2017), and Never Steady, Never Still, premiering at TIFF this year.

Ellen Wong
Ellen Wong was born and raised in Toronto to Chinese-Cambodian refugee parents. After a global casting search, she landed her breakout role as Knives Chau in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010). Since then, Wong has been cast in numerous films and TV shows, including her starring role as Jill Chen in CW's The Carrie Diaries (2013-2014), a prequel to Sex and the City (1998-2004). She recently recurred on Syfy's Dark Matter (2015- present) and will appear in the upcoming series Condor. Currently, Wong is starring as Jenny Chey (aka Fortune Cookie) on Netflix's hit show GLOW (2017- present).

The 2017 Canadian Rising Stars were selected with the help of an all-female jury that included filmmakers Deepa Mehta and Patricia Rozema, film critic Johanna Schneller, actor and programme aluma Cara Gee, TIFF Industry Programming Manager Lynne Crocker and Associate Director of Talent at the Canadian Film Centre, Larissa Giroux.

Alumni of the TIFF Rising Stars programme include Sarah Gadon (Maps to the Stars, Dracula Untold, Enemy, Belle), Tatiana Maslany (Stronger, The Other Half, Two Lovers and a Bear, Orphan Black), Stephan James (Race, Selma), Connor Jessup (American Crime, Closet Monster), Sophie Nélisse (Mean Dreams, The Book Thief, Monsieur Lazhar), and Shannon Kook (Dark Places, The Conjuring).

Festival ticket packages start at $105. Purchase packages online at tiff.net/tickets, by phone (416.599.TIFF or 1.888.599.8433), or in person at TIFF Bell Lightbox until August 13 while quantities last.

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About TIFF
TIFF is a charitable cultural organization whose mission is to transform the way people see the world, through film. An international leader in film culture, TIFF projects include the annual Toronto International Film Festival in September; TIFF Bell Lightbox, which features five cinemas, major exhibitions, and learning and entertainment facilities; and innovative national distribution programme Film Circuit. The organization generates an annual economic impact of $189 million CAD. TIFF Bell Lightbox is generously supported by contributors including Founding Sponsor Bell, the Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario, the City of Toronto, the Reitman family (Ivan Reitman, Agi Mandel and Susan Michaels), The Daniels Corporation and RBC. For more information, visit tiff.net.

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