Did you know that your version of Internet Explorer is out of date?
To get the best possible experience using our website we recommend downloading one of the browsers below.

Internet Explorer 10, Firefox, Chrome, or Safari.

Aug 15, 2019

« Back to News

TIFF Announces 2019 International Rising Stars

Josefine Frida, Geraldine Viswanathan, Chino Darín, and Kelvin Harrison Jr. hail from Norway, Australia, Argentina, and the United States

TIFF Announces 2019 International Rising Stars

TORONTO (August 15, 2019) — TIFF Co-Heads Cameron Bailey and Joana Vicente announced today the new lineup of international TIFF Rising Stars: Chino DarínGeraldine ViswanathanKelvin 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,” said 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 Myklebust 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 The Queen of Spain (16), A Twelve-Year Night (18), El Angel (18), and Heroic 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 Miracle Workers (19– ); Bad Education, which is making its World Premiere as a Special Presentation at TIFF 2019; and Hala, also premiering at the Festival in the Contemporary World Cinema programme. She is currently filming Natalie Krinsky’s romantic comedy The Broken Heart Gallery.

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 It 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), Luce (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 Robin Hood, and the feature film Disco, which is making its World Premiere in the Discovery programme at TIFF 2019.

The 44th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 5–15, 2019.

For images and more information, see tiff.net/press.

Festival tickets go on sale September 2 at 10am (TIFF Member pre-sale August 31, 10am–4pm). Buy tickets online at tiff.net, by phone at 416.599.2033 or 1.888.258.8433, or in person at a box office. See box office locations and hours at tiff.net/tickets.

TIFF prefers Visa.

Social Media: 
@TIFF_NET 
#TIFF19
#TIFFRisingStars
Facebook.com/TIFF 

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 program 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 Province of Ontario, the Government of Canada, 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.

The Toronto International Film Festival is generously supported by Lead Sponsor Bell, Major Sponsors RBC, L’Oréal Paris and Visa, and Major Supporters the Government of Ontario, Telefilm Canada, and the City of Toronto.

TIFF Rising Stars is presented by OLG.

L'Oréal Paris is proud to be the TIFF Rising Stars Hair and Makeup Sponsor.

TIFF Rising Stars is supported by IWC Schaffhausen and Telefilm Canada.

.