Film festivals are a place for discovery of talent behind and in front of the camera. This top ten list looks at the actors and actresses who are in the beginning stages of their acting careers and have managed to, in the context of the Toronto Int. Film Festival, make some sort of splash where I took notice. We begin with:
#10. Khomotso Manyaka – Life, Above All
I’m cheating a little with this pick – as Life, Above All was selected back in Cannes and isn’t fall film festival season fresh. Not sure how elaborate the casting process was in order to find “Chanda”, but Oliver Schmitz couldn’t have picked a better lead in Khomotso Manyaka – a child, non-actor who takes on the weighty task of playing the heroine. At times Manyaka makes it difficult to distinguish between performance and what may have been a real life experience – you might buy the performance like I did. I’d love to be surprised and see this child actress in twenty years from now.
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