The Toronto International Film Festival unveiled the 10 features that comprise the Platform competition for 2019. Of the 10 features in this year’s Platform selection, 40% are directed by women. The films hail from a wide range of regions, including Europe, Latin America, East Asia, and the US. Kazik Radwanski’s Anne at 13,000 ft is the standout Canadian title in the program’s 2019 lineup, grounded in a career-best performance by
Deragh Campbell (TIFF 2015 Rising Star).
Highlights include the World Premieres of Wet Season by Singapore-based director and producer Anthony Chen, the anticipated follow-up to his breakout debut Ilo Ilo (TIFF 2013); Julie Delpy’s My Zoe, a genre-bending tale of a mother’s navigation of grief that stars Delpy alongside Richard Armitage and Daniel Brühl; and Alice Winocour’s Proxima, an incisive drama following an astronaut and mother as she faces an impossible decision, featuring remarkable performances by Eva Green, Lars Eidinger, Matt Dillon, and Sandra Hüller.
In addition to new films by established directors, this year’s lineup boasts a number of exciting feature debuts, including Darius Marder’s Sound of Metal, starring Riz Ahmed (alongside Olivia Cooke and Mathieu Amalric) as a professional drummer whose life is thrown into freefall when he begins to lose his hearing. Also of note is Workforce, the debut feature by Mexican filmmaker David Zonana. Produced by Michel Franco, the class-conscious drama follows a group of construction workers who seek justice after a workplace accident.
Now in its fifth year, Platform, named after Jia Zhang-ke’s trailblazing second feature, Platform, is the Toronto International Film Festival’s competitive program that champions bold directorial visions. All 10 films in the program are eligible for the Toronto Platform Prize, an award of $20,000 CAD given to the best film in the program, selected by a three-person jury. Berlinale Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian, film critic Jessica Kiang, and filmmaker Athina Rachel Tsangari make up this year’s jury.
Previous Platform selections include Alex Ross Perry’s Her Smell (2018), Karyn Kusama’s Destroyer (2018), Clio Barnard’s Dark River (2017), Kamila Andini’s The Seen and Unseen (2017), Bertrand Bonello’s Nocturama (2016), Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight (2016), and Gabriel Mascaro’s Neon Bull (2015).
The 44th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 5 to 15, 2019.
2019 Platform lineup
Anne at 13,000 ft
Kazik Radwanski | Canada/USA
World Premiere
Platform Closing Film
Martin Eden
Pietro Marcello | Italy/France
International Premiere
The Moneychanger (Así Habló El Cambista)
Federico Veiroj | Uruguay/Argentina/Germany
World Premiere
My Zoe
Julie Delpy | Germany/France
World Premiere
Proxima
Alice Winocour | France/Germany
World Premiere
Platform Opening Film.
Rocks
Sarah Gavron | United Kingdom
World Premiere
The Sleepwalkers (Los Sonámbulos)
Paula Hernández | Argentina/Uruguay
World Premiere
Sound of Metal
Darius Marder | USA
World Premiere
Wet Season
Anthony Chen | Singapore/Taiwan
World Premiere
Workforce (Mano De Obra)
David Zonana | Mexico
World Premiere