Meet the Ambassadors
Share Her Journey Ambassadors are catalysts for a new industry standard. As champions of TIFF’s renewed year-round Share Her Journey platform, they use their voices, influence, and leadership to help build the conditions for sustained change across the screen sector.
By connecting established leaders with the next generation of women creators, Share Her Journey Ambassadors help open doors, build pathways, and ensure women have the visibility, support, and momentum their work deserves.
Their leadership advances TIFF’s commitment to measurable progress — investing in better stories, a stronger industry, and a more complete cultural future.
Because when the stories change, the future does too.
See the difference you can make!
Donate todayopen_in_newFor inquiries and opportunities, please contact the TIFF Philanthropy Office.
Prefer to make a donation by phone?
Please call us at 1-888-258-8433.
Charitable Registration No. 11930 4541 RR0001. Tax receipts are issued for all donations $10 or more.
Talent Ambassadors
Amma Asante
Writer, Director
Smilla’s Sense of Snow, Where Hands Touch, A United Kingdom, Belle, A Way of Life
Awards: BAFTA Film Award, Grand Jury Winner at Miami Film Festival
Smilla’s Sense of Snow, Where Hands Touch, A United Kingdom, Belle, A Way of Life
Awards: BAFTA Film Award, Grand Jury Winner at Miami Film Festival
Andréa Grau
Communications Executive
Touchwood PR, Cineplex, Netflix, Focus Features, CBC, Crave
Touchwood PR, Cineplex, Netflix, Focus Features, CBC, Crave
Andria Wilson Mirza
Media Executive, Producer
WIF, ReFrame, Inside Out Festival, The Queen of My Dreams, Survivor Made
Awards: CMPA Award-Nominated
WIF, ReFrame, Inside Out Festival, The Queen of My Dreams, Survivor Made
Awards: CMPA Award-Nominated
Ashley McKenzie
Director
Queens of the Qing Dynasty, Werewolf, 4 Quarters, Stray
Awards: Rogers Best Canadian Film Award from Toronto Critics Association, New Yorker “Best Movies of 2018”
Queens of the Qing Dynasty, Werewolf, 4 Quarters, Stray
Awards: Rogers Best Canadian Film Award from Toronto Critics Association, New Yorker “Best Movies of 2018”
Crystine Zhang
Producer
Josephine, Bedford Park, Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass, Glenrothan, Lee, Prisoner’s Daughter
Awards: BAFTA Nominated, Sundance Winner for U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and Audience Award: US Dramatic
Josephine, Bedford Park, Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass, Glenrothan, Lee, Prisoner’s Daughter
Awards: BAFTA Nominated, Sundance Winner for U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and Audience Award: US Dramatic
Deepa Mehta
Director
Anatomy of Violence, Beeba Boys, Midnight's Children, Heaven on Earth, the Elements trilogy (Water, Earth, Fire)
Awards: Academy Award-Nominated, Canadian Screen Award Winner, Order of Canada, Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement
Anatomy of Violence, Beeba Boys, Midnight's Children, Heaven on Earth, the Elements trilogy (Water, Earth, Fire)
Awards: Academy Award-Nominated, Canadian Screen Award Winner, Order of Canada, Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement
Fawzia Mirza
Director, Writer
The Queen of My Dreams, The Red Line, Deli Boys, Late Bloomer, Signature Move
The Queen of My Dreams, The Red Line, Deli Boys, Late Bloomer, Signature Move
HIKARI
Director
Rental Family, Tokyo Vice, Beef, 37 Seconds
Awards: Audience Award Winner at Berlin Film Festival, TIFF Emerging Talent Award, Directing Award from Critics Choice Award for AAPI Cinema & Television
Rental Family, Tokyo Vice, Beef, 37 Seconds
Awards: Audience Award Winner at Berlin Film Festival, TIFF Emerging Talent Award, Directing Award from Critics Choice Award for AAPI Cinema & Television
Jessie Buckley
Actress
Hamnet, Women Talking, Beast, The Lost Daughter, Wild Rose, I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Awards: Academy Award Winner for Best Actress, BAFTA Award for Best Actress, Screen Actors Guild Award, Laurence Olivier Award, Golden Globe Award
Hamnet, Women Talking, Beast, The Lost Daughter, Wild Rose, I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Awards: Academy Award Winner for Best Actress, BAFTA Award for Best Actress, Screen Actors Guild Award, Laurence Olivier Award, Golden Globe Award
Kaniehtiio Horn
Actress, Writer, Director
Seeds, Shoresy, Letterkenny, The Lowdown, Alice Darling, Rutherford Falls, Reservation Dogs
Awards: Canadian Screen Award
Seeds, Shoresy, Letterkenny, The Lowdown, Alice Darling, Rutherford Falls, Reservation Dogs
Awards: Canadian Screen Award
Keri Levinsky
Media Executive
Roku, Amazon MGM Studios
Roku, Amazon MGM Studios
Kirstine Stewart
Media and Technology Leader
CBC/Radio-Canada, Twitter, World Economic Forum, Alliance Atlantis, Hallmark Channel, HGTV
Awards: Canadian National Bestselling Author, Canadian Business’s Power 50, Maclean’s Most Powerful Canadians
CBC/Radio-Canada, Twitter, World Economic Forum, Alliance Atlantis, Hallmark Channel, HGTV
Awards: Canadian National Bestselling Author, Canadian Business’s Power 50, Maclean’s Most Powerful Canadians
Mina Shum
Director
Whatcha Want, Meditation Park, Double Happiness
Awards: Best First Feature Award at Berlin Film Festival, Audience Award at Torino Film Festival
Whatcha Want, Meditation Park, Double Happiness
Awards: Best First Feature Award at Berlin Film Festival, Audience Award at Torino Film Festival
Mira Nair
Director
Queen of Katwe, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Amelia, The Namesake, Monsoon Wedding, Mississippi Masala, Salaam Bombay!
Awards: Academy Award-Nominated, Caméra d’Or at Cannes, Golden Globe Winner, Emmy Winner, Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival
Queen of Katwe, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Amelia, The Namesake, Monsoon Wedding, Mississippi Masala, Salaam Bombay!
Awards: Academy Award-Nominated, Caméra d’Or at Cannes, Golden Globe Winner, Emmy Winner, Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival
Molly McGlynn
Director, Screenwriter
Village Keeper, Fitting In, Mary Goes Round
Awards: Panavision Independent Cinema Award at the Santa Barbara Film Festival, Best Feature Film at the Vail Film Festival and Best Narrative Feature at the Annapolis Film Festival, Director’s Guild of Canada Nominee
Village Keeper, Fitting In, Mary Goes Round
Awards: Panavision Independent Cinema Award at the Santa Barbara Film Festival, Best Feature Film at the Vail Film Festival and Best Narrative Feature at the Annapolis Film Festival, Director’s Guild of Canada Nominee
Naomi Johnson
Executive Director
imagineNATIVE Film Festival
Awards: Margo Bindhardt and Rita Davies Award from the Toronto Arts Foundation
imagineNATIVE Film Festival
Awards: Margo Bindhardt and Rita Davies Award from the Toronto Arts Foundation
Patricia Rozema
Director, Writer
Mouthpiece, Anne with an E, Mozart in the Jungle, Six Gestures, Into the Forest, Mansfield Park, When Night Is Falling, I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing
Awards: Emmy Award, Grammy Nomination
Mouthpiece, Anne with an E, Mozart in the Jungle, Six Gestures, Into the Forest, Mansfield Park, When Night Is Falling, I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing
Awards: Emmy Award, Grammy Nomination
Sangita Patel
Television Personality
Click and Tell, ET Canada, Home to Win, Love and Translation
Awards: Audience Choice Award, Best Host, and Best News Program for Canadian Screen Awards, HELLO! Canada Magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People”
Click and Tell, ET Canada, Home to Win, Love and Translation
Awards: Audience Choice Award, Best Host, and Best News Program for Canadian Screen Awards, HELLO! Canada Magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People”
Tamara Deverell
Art Director, Production Designer
Frankenstein, Priscilla, Nightmare Alley, Cabinet of Curiosities, Star Trek: Discovery, The Strain
Awards: Academy Award Winner for Production Design, Emmy Award Winner, BAFTA-Nominated
Frankenstein, Priscilla, Nightmare Alley, Cabinet of Curiosities, Star Trek: Discovery, The Strain
Awards: Academy Award Winner for Production Design, Emmy Award Winner, BAFTA-Nominated
Tanya Lapointe
Producer, Filmmaker and Former Journalist
The Paper Man, Dune: Part One, Dune: Part Two, Dune: Part Three
Award: Academy Award-Nominated
The Paper Man, Dune: Part One, Dune: Part Two, Dune: Part Three
Award: Academy Award-Nominated
Donor Ambassadors
Anne-Marie Canning
Philanthropist
Original Founding Member of Share Her Journey programme
Original Founding Member of Share Her Journey programme
Reetu Gupta
CEO & Ambassadress
CEO of The Gupta Group, Author of Whispers of the Soul, Serves on TIFF’s Philanthropy Committee, Member of the Ownership Group for Toronto Tempo (WNBA).
Awards: Canada’s Most Powerful Women (WXN)
CEO of The Gupta Group, Author of Whispers of the Soul, Serves on TIFF’s Philanthropy Committee, Member of the Ownership Group for Toronto Tempo (WNBA).
Awards: Canada’s Most Powerful Women (WXN)