Ben Wheatley, Joachim Lafosse, Pablo Trapero and Fabienne Berthaud are among the directors who will be competing for the Toronto International Film Festival’s first jury award, with films that feature Tom Hiddleston, Elisabeth Moss, Norman Reedus and Lena Dunham, among others.
The films will compete for a $25,000 (Canadian) prize in the new Platform section, a juried selection of films added for the first time to TIFF’s massive lineup. Festival organizers announced the list of 12 Platform films on Thursday, with TIFF CEO Piers Handling calling the section “a way to sharpen our focus on artistically ambitious cinema in our 40th year.”
Platform films include Wheatley’s “High-Rise,” about an unsociable new tenant in an apartment building, with Hiddleston, Moss and Sienna Miller; Lafosse’s “The White Knights,” a fact-based drama about humanitarian efforts in the face of African civil wars; and Berthaud’s “Sky,” a Las Vegas-set road movie with Diane Kruger, Reedus and Dunham.
Other films include the world premieres of Eva Husson’s “Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story),” Diastème’s “French Blood,” David Verbeek’s “Full Contact,” Alan Zweig’s “HURT,” Martin Zandvliet’s “Land of Mine” and He Ping’s “The Promised Land.”
Pablo Trapero’s “The Clan,” Sue Brooks’ “Looking for Grace” and Gabriel Mascaro’s “Neon Bull” complete the lineup.
In the past, Toronto has given out an audience award, but unlike other festivals it has not given jury awards. But to put a focus on films that might otherwise be lost in the shuffle amid the 300 films booked into the festival, TIFF opted to single out a dozen films for the new jury prize.
The jury will consist of three acclaimed international directors: Jia Zhang-ke (“Still Life”), Claire Denis (“Beau Travail”) and Agnieszka Holland (“Europa Europa”).
The winner will be announced at the TIFF Awards Ceremony on the final day of the festival, which runs from Sept. 10 through Sept. 20.
Below is the lineup of films:
“Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story)” Eva Husson, France
“The Clan” (“El Clan”) Pablo Trapero, Argentina/Spain
“French Blood” (“Un Français”) Diastème, France
“Full Contact” David Verbeek, Netherlands/Croatia
“High-Rise” Ben Wheatley, United Kingdom
“HURT” Alan Zweig, Canada
“Land of Mine” (“Under Sandet / Unter dem Sand”) Martin Zandvliet, Denmark/Germany
“Looking for Grace” Sue Brooks, Australia
“Neon Bull” (“Boi Neon”) Gabriel Mascaro, Brazil/Uruguay/Netherlands
“The Promised Land” (“Hui Dao Bei Ai De Mei Yi Tian”) He Ping, China
“Sky” Fabienne Berthaud, France/Germany
“The White Knights” (“Les Chevaliers blancs”) Joachim Lafosse, France/Belgium