AMPD alumni take centre screen to win big at TIFF 2021
AMPD alumni take centre screen to win big at TIFF 2021
It’s Cinema’s grand return, with TIFF 2021 taking over the streets and screens of Toronto this September. York AMPD alumni and students make waves in front and behind the camera, taking home major awards.
York@TIFF Wins Big
TIFF selected alumna Atefeh Khademolreza (MFA ’19) as the 2021 TIFF Micki Moore Residency recipient. This residency will provide Khademolreza with important networking opportunities, including mentorship from TIFF’s programming teams and expert guests at TIFF 21 as she undergoes a 10-week feature-film screenwriting residency at TIFF Bell Lightbox this fall.
York Acting Conservatory alumna Emma Ferreira won the TIFF Rising Star Award in Thyrone Tommy’s Learn To Swim with her breakout role. Ferreria moves the audience to the part of Selma, a vivacious young singer who cross-paths with a very talented sax player (Thomas Antony Olajide).
Outside of TIFF designated awards, Albert Shin’s (BFA ’06) Together captures a sport on the for the IMDbPro Short Cuts Award for Best Canadian Film Shortlist.
The York@TIFF Line-Up
Tug of War
Amil Shivji (BFA ’12, MFA ’19)
In this adaptation of Adam Shafi’s award-winning Swahili novel, set in 1950s Zanzibar, a romance is buffeted by the harsh waves of British rule and the local militant struggle for liberation.
Reminiscent of an anti-colonial In the Mood for Love, distinguished as one of the few films ever shot on the island of Zanzibar, and the first Tanzanian feature film to ever play at the Festival, Amil Shivji‘s latest captures the unique historic tensions of an indelibly important time and space. Taking place less than a generation after the close of the East African slave trade, of which Zanzibar was a central hub, this period piece looks ahead to the end of half a century of colonial rule over the archipelago. Shafi’s renowned novel itself is taught in high schools across Tanzania, and now a new generation of lovers have Tug of War to inspire their dreams for better futures.
Read More: https://www.tiff.net/events/tug-of-war
Dear Chantal
Nicolás Pereda (BFA ’05, MFA ’07)
Nicolás Pereda’s playful and moving Dear Chantal narrates letters to legendary Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman about a short-term apartment rental in Mexico City, as we see the modern abode tidied and organized — tranquil signs of life.
Read More: https://www.tiff.net/events/wl-shorts-present-tense
Together
Albert Shin (BFA ’06)
Albert Shin demonstrates all his directorial prowess and knack for creating stark yet vivid characters with this remarkable drama about two strangers who convene at a seaside motel in South Korea with very particular intentions in mind.
Read More: https://www.tiff.net/events/short-cuts-yyz-edition
Nuisance Bear
Jack Weisman (BFA ’15), Gabriela Osio Vanden
An unconventional and visually stunning study of the polar bears who draw tourists to Churchill, Manitoba, Jack Weisman and Gabriela Osio Vanden’s documentary highlights the increasingly narrow and treacherous boundary between human and animal realms.
Read More: https://www.tiff.net/events/short-cuts-yyz-edition
Congratulations to all our TIFF AMPD alumni, faculty, staff, and students!
