KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN

Tonatiuh will receive the UBS Breakthrough Performer award following the screening on October 4. Tonatiuh is an actor and screenwriter currently who stars as Molina in Bill Condon’s KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN. Most recently, Tonatiuh starred in the Netflix thriller CARRY-ON (2024), alongside Taron Egerton and Jason Bateman. His passion for the stage has led him to collaborate with prominent Los Angeles theatre companies, including IAMA Theatre Company, where he starred in Species Native to California and The House That Jake Built, and ECHO Theatre Company, where he delivered a standout performance in Fixed. On television, Tonatiuh starred as a series regular in ABC’s Promised Land, and appeared in Peacock’s Angelyne. He also lends his voice as a recurring character in Nickelodeon’s The Loud House.

In addition, Bernard Telsey will receive the inaugural HIFF Achievement in Casting award. Bernard Telsey, along with his team at The Telsey Office, have cast such films as KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, PLAINCLOTHES, WICKED 1&2, THE IDEA OF YOU, THE COLOR PURPLE, MEAN GIRLS: THE MUSICAL, IN THE HEIGHTS, TICK, TICK…BOOM, THE LITTLE MERMAID (Live Action), MARY POPPINS RETURNS, THE GREATEST SHOWMAN, INTO THE WOODS, and the upcoming MOANA (Live Action), OH WHAT FUN, THE MAN WITH THE BAG, VERITY, BEST OF THE BEST, and BEING HEUMANN. Some recent television credits include The Gilded Age, Only Murders in the Building, And Just Like That, Paradise, and This is Us.

Broadway shows include Maybe Happy Ending, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, Sweeney Todd, Kimberly Akimbo, Parade, Some Like It Hot, Into the Woods, MJ: The Musical, Hamilton, Wicked, Kinky Boots, Hairspray, In the Heights, and Rent, and the upcoming shows Ragtime and The Lost Boys. Bernard is one of the co-Artistic Directors of MCC Theater and he was the 2016 recipient of the Casting Society of America’s Hoyt Bowers Award for his contributions to the profession. He is a member of AMPAS, BAFTA, and CSA, and served on the Academy Board of Governors, representing the Casting Branch.

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