TIFF’s platform program to make new Cillian Murphy drama into debut as a ‘artistic ambitious’ slate celebrates 10 years
Cillian Murphy plays a teacher for troubled boys in the Netflix-distributed drama by Tim Mielants named Steve.Tiff/Leveld
When the Toronto International Film Festival launched its platform program 10 years ago, the aforementioned but clearly understood goal was to play in the sandboxes of competing film organizations.
Just like the acclaimed “in competition” of Cannes, the platform would be a juried program that was designed to “artistic ambitious” international cinema in trumpet, although in this case at a festival that had never been awarded prizes on the basis of the grilling of a private panel. And just like the official markets in Berlin, Cannes and even the American film market, the platform was designed to present films that had no distribution – to “use the media and buyers in the room with the public”, such as Cameron Bailey, then Tiff’s artistic director and now the Chief Executive, said then.
The Aims and Whims of Platform Have Changed Over The Ensuing Decade – What was Once A Program Restricted to World Premieres is now also open to international premieres (aka movies that are screening outside their country of original for the first time), while pennut spent spent spins As Tiff Aims to Launch Its Own Official Buying-And-Selling Market Next Year-But the “Artistically Ambitious” Element Has Been Kept in Place.
Although the stroke average of the platform is wobbly when it comes to TIFF’s favorite success – the launch of Oscar opportunities – every year has reliable at least one or two contemporary classics: Barry Jenkins’s MoonlightWilliam Oldroyd’s Lady MacbethBertrand Bonello’s Nocturama – And those were just in 2016.
Barry Hertz: TIFF cards leave his ambitious future on the beaches of Cannes
This year’s platform promises more of the same adventurous spirit, with daring voices – both emerging and veteran – from all over the world.
The top of the list should be The world of love From the South Korean director Yoon Ga-Heron, who has been praised all over the world for her work that explores the lives of children and young people (2016s The world of us). But other potential conversation starters are the Iranian trans-drama Between dreams and hope, directed by Farnoosh Samadi; The Ukrainian political drama To the victory! van Valentyn Vasyanovych; Skite’kmujue’katik ((At the place of spirits) from Canada’s Bretten Hannam, who calls the programming director of TIFF, Robyn Citizen, a “extremely beautiful film with elements of magic realism”; and Gyorgy Palfi’s The chickenAn unorthodox live-action drama that follows one chicken while it escapes a creepy fate.
Polish period Drama Winter of De Kraai with Lesley Manville and directed by Kasia Adamik is one of the many films that platform shows that a high art with names with high wattage.Tiff/Leveld
For festival visitors who want to balance high art with names with high wattage, the platform also covered that corner with the Polish period drama Winter of the crow With Lesley Manville in the lead and directed by Kasia Adamik, daughter of Agnieszka Holland (who will also be in TIFF with her new Kafka Biopic); Pauline Loquès’ French drama NininoWith the most popular young actor of Canada, Théodore Pellerin; and Tim Mielants’ Netflix-distributed drama Stevein the lead role OPPENHEIMER‘s Cillian Murphy as a teacher for troubled boys.
In the meantime, this year’s platform jury continues the tradition of the program to combine international authors with familiar faces. Chairman of the jury of 2025 is the Spanish filmmaker Carlos Marques-Marcet, whose drama from 2024 They will be dust won the platform prize last year. He is accompanied by Canadian director Chloé Robichaud (2023s Days of happiness) and the British actor Marianne Jean-Baptiste, whose newest collaboration with director Mike Leigh, Hard truthspremiered last year at TIFF.
When the platform debuted in 2015, TIFF director Piers Handling noted that the program was an example of “our continuous dedication to present artistic and inventive directors who push fearless boundaries.”
As much as things have changed for the film world and Tiff itself – including the amount of the platform price, which is lowered from its initial $ 25,000 wallet to $ 20,000 – some things are fortunately the same.
The 50th edition of TIFF runs from 4 to 14 September.
