The Toronto International Film Festival has revealed its cohort for its 2022 mentorship programs, including the TIFF Filmmaker Lab, Talent Accelerator, and Rising Stars.

Canadian filmmakers J Stevens (Sort Of), Gavin Seal (Followers), and Melanie Oates (Body & Bones) are among the creators selected for the 47th annual TIFF Filmmaker Lab. The program gives 20 Canadian and international filmmakers the opportunity to learn from esteemed directors as well as access to the festival and resources over a five-day period. Program participants are also given “additional financial support to help them fulfill their creative vision,” according to a news release.

Other filmmakers in the cohort include Montreal’s Nadine Gomez (Exarcheia, The Chanting of Birds), Calgary’s Caleb Ryan (Vagrant), Ontario’s D.W. Waterson (The D Cut), Toronto’s Araya Mengesha (DEFUND), and Canadian-Pakistani writer-director Zarrar Kahn (In Flames). Montreal’s Carol Nguyen (No Crying at the Dinner Table) and Toronto’s Mahsa Razavi (Ahu), who are also part of TIFF’s Talent Accelerator program for its directing stream, have also been selected.

International participants are Nesaru Tchaas of the U.S. (Some Still Search); Kazakhstan’s Zhannat Alshanova (Mother Tongue); Turkey’s Sis Gurdal (Postcards from The Orient); Lebanon/France’s Isabelle Mecattaf (Beity); Germany/Argentina’s Sophia Mocorrea (Matadoras); Germany/Australia’s Aaron Lucas (Mary); Australia’s Jayden Rathsam Hüa (Survey); New Zealand’s Miki Magasiva (We Are Still Here); Nigeria/U.K.’s Olive Nwosu (Troublemaker); and Zimbabwe’s Naishe Nyamubaya (Four Walls and a Roof).

The TIFF Talent Accelerator is a year-long mentorship program for six emerging Canadian filmmakers, producers and screenwriters, with a “goal of fast-tracking careers and projects,” according to the press release.

Toronto-based writer-producer-director Teyama Alkamli (Hockey Mom) has been tapped for the writer stream with Calgary’s Berkley Brady (Dark Nature). In its producer stream, Toronto’s Alona Metzer (Learn to Swim) and Halifax-based Britt Kerr (Queens of the Qing Dynasty) have been selected.

Meanwhile, the Series Accelerator, which is offered to Canadian series producers, writers, and directors from underrepresented communities, includes Abdul Malik (Peace by Chocolate) and Shant Joshi (Framing Agnes) for their series Salt; Bianca Kenna (Mr. Khatia) and Shelby Manton (Rules for Werewolves) for Thread; Jessica Landry and Hannah Johnson (7th Gen) for Ghosts of Lakeland; and Mariam Zaidi (Over Time) and Meher Jaffri (Funny Boy) for The Chosen One.

The selected actors for the TIFF Rising Stars include Toronto-based Colombian-Canadian Natalia Aranguren (So Much Tenderness) and Carmen Madonia (Something You Said Last Night). Vancouver-based Isaiah Lehtinen (I Like Movies); Indigenous actor Joshua Odjick (Bones of Crows); and American-Canadian Gabriel LaBelle (The Fabelmans).

International actors selected in the program are: Ty Simpkins of the U.S. (The Whale); the U.K.’s Aaron Pierre (Brother); South Korea’s Choi Seung-yoon (Riceboy Sleeps); and South Africa’s Thuso Mbedu (The Woman King).

Other notable writers and filmmakers who have been selected for TIFF mentorship programs include Haitian-Canadian writer Yasmine Mathurin (One of Ours), Japanese-Canadian Mayumi Yoshida (Tokyo Lovers), Nigerian-American Abbesi Akhamie (The Couple Next Door), and American writer Maggie Brigg (To Sony) for the CHANEL Women Writers’ Network Micro Talent summit. As well, Toronto-born actor-writer-producer Sarah Gadon (Alias Grace) has been selected for the 2022 Micki Moore Writer-in-Residence.

Photo by Shane Parent, courtesy of TIFF