Black History Month Spotlight | Revisiting Amazing Student, Alumni & Faculty Achievements

Every February, Canadians unite to celebrate Black History Month, a time to honor the rich legacies, remarkable successes, enduring sacrifices, and powerful triumphs of Black communities across the country.

At Toronto Film School, we proudly celebrate the extraordinary accomplishments of our Black students, alumni and faculty – stories that shine as individual features on our TFS News Page or are highlighted in our ongoing TFS Spotlight articles throughout the year.

With this year’s theme being Black Legacy and Leadership: Celebrating Canadian History and Uplifting Future Generations, we’re inspired to reshare and re-celebrate some of these awe-inspiring success stories, recognizing the lasting impact of these trailblazers and their continued influence on future generations.

Film Production Alum Olayinka Jinmi-Ahisu Wins 2024 The Verdict Marketing Case Competition

Class of 2021 Film Production grad Olayinka Jinmi-Ahisu was part of a team that took home the first-place finish from The Verdict 2024 – including a cash prize of $10,000!

“Winning the competition felt unreal to me,” Ahisu said of The Verdict, an annual marketing case competition presented by IMDOINGIT, which offers Black youth in Canada the collaborative opportunity to tackle real-life business challenges for a chance to a cash prize. “…When we emerged as the winners, it was an incredibly fulfilling and surprising moment for me and my teammates.”

Over the course of six-week competition, Ahisu and his fellow Verdict participants were tasked with working in teams to address business challenges and develop solutions with the guidance of mentors from IMDOINGIT’s mentorMatch program.

For Ahisu and his TOA teammates Toni Agbaje-Ojo and Ayanfe Ayeni, that meant presenting a show-stopping Movember case solution that would blow away the judges – and they succeeded.

Read more about Ahisu’s award-winning case solution for The Verdict HERE!

Grace Gahore Named Winner of BMO BIPOC Creative Achievement Award

Film Production student Grace Gahore was named the recipient of Toronto Film School’s quarterly BIPOC Creative Achievement Award in July.

Presented in partnership with BMO, the award – which recognizes one full-time BIPOC student with a $1,250 award towards their tuition each quarter – is aimed at contributing to the diversity of the workforce in Canada’s creative industry by helping students who identify as Black, Indigenous or a Person of Colour complete their programs.

Gahore’s application for the BIPOC Creative Achievement Award made an immediate impression on the award’s selection committee.

“I was profoundly impressed by Grace’s application, particularly her dedication to advocating for inclusivity and representation as an emerging filmmaker,” said Cardella, a Student Outreach Manager for TFS and a member of the committee. “Her proactive networking with industry professionals, combined with her unwavering conviction to create change, will undoubtedly shape a meaningful and impactful career path for her in the future.”

Read more about how the bursary is helping propel Gahore towards her ultimate goal of leaving an “indelible mark” on the film and television industry HERE!

Film Production Alum Alpha Chrislord Nyarko Wins Big at TINFF

TFS alumnus Alpha Chrislord Nyarko’s short film Dance with the Devil took home the award for Best Short Drama – North America from the 2024 Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival (TINFF) in September.

The psychological drama, which was both written and directed by Nyarko, delves into themes of power and the duality of human nature. Inspired by the classic notion of making a deal with the devil, Dance With the Devil explores the consequences of ambition, betrayal, and redemption.

“It’s an incredible honor to be recognized by TINFF with this award,” said the Class of 2023 Acting for Film, TV & the Theatre, who both wrote and directed the film.

“As a filmmaker, you pour your heart and soul into every project, and to have Dance With the Devil resonate with both audiences and the jury means the world to me. This recognition affirms my belief in the power of storytelling and the impact it can have on people’s lives.”

Learn more about Dance with the Devil HERE!

TFS’s Andrew Moodie Celebrates World Premiere of ‘Harlem Renaissance’ with Cast of Acting Students

Dora Award-nominated playwright Andrew Moodie recently entrusted the world premiere of his latest play, Harlem Renaissance, to his talented young acting students at Toronto Film School.

The 75-minute stage production, which debuted at Toronto’s Papermill Theatre featuring a cast of fifth-term Acting for Film, TV & the Theatre students in December, was inspired by Wallace Thurman’s 1929 novel Infants of the Spring.

“I had heard about something called the Harlem Renaissance, I knew it had something to do with the twenties and art and black America, but it was only after reading the novel that I truly realized what that golden period of artistic and ideological revolution was all about,” said Moodie.

Harlem Renaissance marks Moodie’s eighth play, following Riot (which won the 1996 Chalmers Canadian Play Award,) Oui, Wilbur County Blues, A Common Man’s Guide to Loving Women, The Lady Smith, The Real McCoy, and Toronto the Good (which was nominated for the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play).

“As a writer I have always been fascinated by voices that have yet to be heard,” he said, “I have always attempted to chronicle unusual lives from within the black community that in some way speak something universal to all peoples from all communities.”

Read more about Harlem Renaissance and its talented young cast HERE!

TFS’s Mercedes Cardella Wraps Production on ‘Jude & The Jinn’ Feature Film

Mercedes Cardella’s Telefilm Canada’s Talent to Watch-winning project wrapped production both here in Toronto and in Cairo, Egypt in May 2024.

Written and directed by Rolla Tahir and starring Alexander Siddig (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) and newcomer Azza Abbaro, Jude & The Jinn was one of 16 feature projects from emerging filmmakers selected for the 2022-2023 Talent to Watch program. The film received $250,000 in Telefilm funding, as well as additional support from the multi-national New Dawn fund.

“The shoot was so amazing! Having shot in Cairo and in Toronto is an experience that I will cherish forever. The set was truly magnetic,” said Cardella, a TFS Student Outreach Manager, who both acted in and produced the film under her Magic Carpet Productions banner.

Learn more about Jude & the Jinn – a “magical realism feature film” – HERE!

Acting Grad Orville Cummings Takes on Dark New Role in Ron Dias’s Morningside

Toronto Film School alumnus Orville Cummings celebrated the world premiere of “Toronto’s next big movie”, Morningside, at the Reelworld Film Festival in October.

The project, which reunited the Class of 2015 Acting for Film, TV & the Theatre grad with his Bite of a Mango director Ron Dias, explores the lives of seven diverse characters who collide at Scarborough’s Morningside Community Centre as they navigate the challenges of relationships, societal struggles, and the looming threat of gentrification.

Cummings, who’s perhaps best known for playing Lt. William Christopher on Star Trek: Discovery, takes on the far less likeable role of ‘Breeze’ in Morningside – a character the film’s director, Ron Dias, warned him would not be an audience favourite during the casting process.

“When he sat me down and offered me the role, he said, ‘Look man, this role isn’t going to be pretty, you have to go to a dark place,’” he recalled of his first meeting with Dias to discuss the project. “He trusted me, and I delivered. I wanted Breeze to be a character people will both love to hate and want to see more of.”

To learn more about Morningside, Cummings’ role in it, and the film’s premiere at Reelworld, click HERE!

TFS Grad Obata Oriuwa Joins Anthony Q. Farrell’s Diversity Showrunner Bootcamp

Toronto Film School alumnus Obata “Obie” Oriuwa was selected to participate in Anthony Q. Farrell’s prestigious Diversity Showrunner Bootcamp in 2024.

“At first, I didn’t think I would be accepted, as the program was for people a little more experienced than me,” said the Class of 2023 Writing for Film & Television grad, “but, I was on my way and with a bit of a candid approach and a dash of humour, I thought maybe he would give a ‘brother trying to thrive’ a chance, and I’m glad he did!”

First launched by Farrell in 2021, the Diversity Showrunner Bootcamp aims to bridge the knowledge gaps that exist in the creative industries by providing select BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour), persons with disabilities and 2SLGBTQIA+ participants with a series of eight, three-hour virtual training sessions run by industry leaders.

To read more about Oriuwa’s experience in the program, which recently wrapped, click HERE!