The Toronto International Film Festival today revealed the 10 feature films that will make up its Platform section. The festival, which runs September 8 through 18 this year, annually hosts the Platform vertical to shine a light on first-time and veteran filmmakers and their bold directorial visions from around the globe.
The program’s opening night selection is the directorial debut of actor Frances O’Connor, “Emily,” which centers on author Emily Brontë and the years leading up to the publication of her novel “Wuthering Heights.” Notably the selection also includes two Canadian films as well as the latest movie from Maïmouna Doucouré, the director of 2020’s controversial “Cuties.” All 10 films in the program are world premieres.
“We launched Platform to shine a brighter light on some of the most original films and distinct voices at our Festival,” said Cameron Bailey, the CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival. “Now in year seven, it’s become a true home for international auteurs on the rise.”
Named after Jia Zhang-ke’s groundbreaking second feature, Platform is curated by TIFF Chief Programming Officer Anita Lee; Director, Festival Programming Robyn Citizen; and Senior Manager, Festival Programming Ravi Srinivasan.
“Eclectic in vision, this year’s selection not only represents all World Premieres of exciting, on-the-rise voices from around the world, but it also reflects the very timely and unique perspectives of racialized filmmakers from diasporic communities broadening the canvas,” said Lee.
The 10 films in the programme are eligible for the Platform Prize, an award of $20,000 CAD given to the best film in the section as selected by an in-person international jury. This year’s Platform Prize jury will be announced later this summer. Previous jury members include: Claire Denis, Béla Tarr, Brian De Palma, Mira Nair, Riz Ahmed, and Jia Zhang-ke.
Previous Platform selections include Hany Abu-Assad’s “Huda’s Salon” (2021), Kamila Andini’s “Yuni” (2021), Darius Marder’s “Sound of Metal” (2019), Alice Winocour’s “Proxima” (2019), Kazik Radwanski’s “Anne at 13,000 Ft.” (2019), Sarah Gavron’s “Rocks” (2019), Armando Iannucci’s “The Death of Stalin” (2017), Pablo Larraín’s “Jackie” (2016), Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight” (2016), William Oldroyd’s “Lady Macbeth” (2016), and Ben Wheatley’s “High-Rise” (2015).
See the full platform lineup below.
“Charcoal” (“Carvão”), Carolina Markowicz | Brazil, Argentina World Premiere
“Emily,” Frances O’Connor | UK World Premiere
“The Gravity” (“La Gravité”), Cédric Ido | France World Premiere
“Hawa,” Maïmouna Doucouré | France World Premiere
“How to Blow Up a Pipeline,” Daniel Goldhaber | USA World Premiere
“Riceboy Sleeps,” Anthony Shim | Canada World Premiere
“Subtraction” (“Tafrigh”), Mani Haghighi | Iran, France World Premiere
“Thunder” (“Foudre”), Carmen Jaquier | Switzerland World Premiere
“Tora’s Husband,” Rima Das | India World Premiere
“Viking,” Stéphane Lafleur | Canada World Premiere
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