For close to a decade Jaeger-LeCoultre has established a longstanding connection with the film industry. From September 4th to 14th, 2014, the Brand will celebrate the best of International and Canadian cinema at the 39th Toronto International Film Festival, as a first time sponsor of the festival. In addition Jaeger-LeCoultre is proud to announce its support to the TIFF Rising Stars, an initiative that immerses four up-and-coming Canada’s actors in a series of public events and private industry meetings in order to be mentored in the different facets of the industry.
On August 6th, 2014, the 2014 TIFF Rising Stars were announced during the Canadian Press Conference in Toronto. Sophie Desmarais, Julia Sarah Stone, Shannon Kook, and Alexandre Landry are the four emerging talents who will receive intensive professional development with international casting directors, filmmakers, producers and development executives during the Festival. Over four exciting days, TIFF Rising Stars will be a part of the Festival’s ongoing to promoting Canadian cinema and talent on the world’s stage. Previous TIFF Rising Stars included Sarah Gadon (Maps to the Stars, Belle and the upcoming The Girl King), Katie Boland, Tatiana Maslany (two-time Critic’s Choice Award-winner for Best Actress in a Drama Series for Orphan Black), Evelyne Brochu (Orphan Black, Pawn Sacrifice), Megan Park.
“The 2014 Rising Stars are a diverse group of actors, each carving his or her own path in the industry with unique projects” said Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of the Toronto International Film Festival. “We are thrilled to welcome them to the programme and look forward to charting their trajectory in the Canadian industry and abroad.”
Sophie Desmarais
Sophie has worked with some of the luminaries of Canadian cinema, including Denis Villeneuve, Denis Coté, Xavier Dolan, and Sébastien Pilote. She garnered critical acclaim for her portrayal of Sarah, a young runner determined to succeed on the track team in the Toronto International Film Festival hit Sarah Prefers to Run. Directed by Chloé Robichaud, the film secured Sophie a Vancouver Film Critics Award for Best Actress in a Canadian Film, a RiverRun Spark Award, and rocketed her to the top of Indiewire’s “10 Actors to Watch” list at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. She made her
English-language feature film debut in the 2004 period drama Head in the Clouds, cast opposite Charlize Theron and Penélope Cruz. Sophie can next be seen in Julie Hivon’s Qu’est-ce qu’on fait ici?, Martin Tallbot’s Henri Henri and Rafaël Ouellet’s forthcoming feature, Gurov and Anna.
Julia Sarah Stone
Julia had her breakout performance in the 2011 hit Canadian indie The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom for which she won the prize for Best Performance in an International Feature at the LA Young Artist Awards. In 2013, Julia captivated audiences as a series regular on AMC’s critically acclaimed series The Killing, playing an emotionally troubled teen living on the streets. Julia starred in the Lifetime Movie Network’s The Pastor’s Wife, The Hub Network’s R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour, and played a brilliant nerd battling peer pressure in the Canadian indie feature Vampire Dog. Julia currently stars in the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival selection Wet Bum, directed by Lindsay McKay. Upcoming projects include roles in Wim Wenders’ Every Thing Will Be Fine, Werner Herzog’s Vernon God Little, and Charlie Kaufman’s F/X pilot, How and Why.
Shannon Kook
Shannon Kook, a graduate of the prestigious National Theatre School of Canada, began his career on the stage at Factory Theatre and at the Citadel Theatre, where he starred in the Dora-nominated production of The Forbidden Phoenix. Shannon made guest appearances on the popular CBC series The Border and Being Erica, Disney XD’s Aaron Stone, and the award-winning HBO series Durham County. He appeared as a new recruit in Global’s hit show Rookie Blue, and starred in the Emmy-nominated series Degrassi: The Next Generation, playing the role of athlete Zane for three seasons. His first major film break came when he was cast in a supporting role in James Wan’s 2013 box-office hit, The Conjuring. Shannon was cast opposite TIFF Rising Stars alumna Cara Gee in Peter Stebbings’ Empire of Dirt, an Official Selection of the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. Shannon can next be seen in the upcoming adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s best-selling 2009 thriller, Dark Places, which also stars Chloë Grace Moretz, Charlize Theron, Christina Hendricks, Nicholas Hoult and Corey Stoll.
Alexandre Landry
Alexandre studied theatre and singing at the National Theatre School of Canada before landing significant stage roles in Montreal productions of Les Aventures de Lagardère, Chambre(s), and Tom à la ferme. Soon after, he appeared in the popular Québec television series Destinées. His major break came when he was cast in a supporting role in his first feature film Gabrielle directed by Louise Archambault. For his performance as Martin, Alexandre garnered critical acclaim and international awards including the Jean-Claude Jean Award for Most Promising Talent at the Dieppe Canadian Film Festival, the Valois Magelis Award for Best Actor at France’s Festival du film francophone d’Angoulême, Best Actor at Spain’s Festival de Gijón, and the Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor in a Support Role in a Canadian film. Alexandre can be seen at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival in a starring role in Rodrigue Jean’s L’amour au temps de la guerre civile.
Jaeger-LeCoultre and the world of Cinema
Jaeger-LeCoultre has been closely associated with the best artistic film festivals around the world starting with the Venice International Film Festival. The Brand has also paid tribute to filmmakers’ creative ingenuity by conferring the Glory to the Filmmaker Award to a personality “who has brought great innovation to contemporary cinema”. The list of past honourees makes fascinating reading: Takeshi Kitano (2007) Abbas Kiarostami (2008), Agnès Varda (2008), Sylvester Stallone (2009), Mani Ratnam (2010), Al Pacino (2011), Spike Lee (2012), followed in 2013 by Ettore Scola, the first Italian director to receive this award.
Jaeger-LeCoultre also partners the Shanghai International Film Festival. Within this context, Jaeger-LeCoultre organises a gala evening and a charity auction aimed at funding film production in China as well as restoring several classic Chinese movies. During the 2014 Shanghai International Film Festival, a screening of ‘Chinese Film Masterpieces Restored by Jaeger-LeCoultre’ is to showcase the results of this project.
For the past three years, Jaeger-LeCoultre has proudly sponsored the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, created in 2007 with the commitment to curating exceptional programs that engage and educate the community, inspire filmmakers and nurture the growth of the Middle Eastern film industry. In 2012, Jaeger-LeCoultre also decided to partner the International Film Festival in San Sebastian, Spain.
Last year Jaeger-LeCoultre announced a new multi-year partnership with the Film Society of Lincoln Center, America’s pre-eminent New York based non-profit film organization. As part of this association, the Film Society of Lincoln Center and Jaeger-LeCoultre launched the Filmmaker in Residence initiative. An annual initiative designed to further cement both organizations’ roles within the film community, and support of the arts. Each year, an artist will have the opportunity to focus on developing or refining new works in New York City. During the residency, the emerging or established talent may participate in master classes, mentorships or cultural exchange and enrichment film programs with the Film Society of Lincoln members, the film community and the public.
English Director and Writer Andrea Arnold was named as the 2013 Filmmaker in Residence. This year, critically acclaimed Argentine filmmaker Lisandro Alonso was named 2014 Filmmaker in Residence. The partnership also extends to two of the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s most prestigious annual events; the Annual Chaplin Award Gala and the New York Film Festival, a 17-day celebration showcasing the best and most significant films of the year from around the world.
In June 2014, Jaeger-LeCoultre honored filmmaking at the Los Angeles Film Festival, as a first time sponsor of the festival and hosted the “Women Who Call the Shots: A Celebration of Women Directors and Showrunners” event, a tribute to women directors and showrunners who are changing the stories on the screen and the statistics in Hollywood with their contributions. Filmmaker and Festival Guest Director Lisa Cholodenko received the Jaeger-LeCoultre “Glory to the filmmaker” Award – a prize dedicated to a personality who has brought innovation to contemporary cinema