The Toronto International Film Festival revealed its lineup for Platform, the juried program that champions director’s cinema from around the world. In its second year, the international lineup includes two Canadian features as well as selections from Australia, France, Bhutan, Belgium, USA, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.
This year, Platform takes on complex and bold narratives that range from a dark, twisted fantasy, a dramatic crime thriller, an existential illusion to the reinterpretation of a satirical tragedy, a raw coming-of-age story, and tales of revolutions, radicals, and revenge. The program will open with the international premiere of the powerful and topical drama Nocturama from critically acclaimed director-writer Bertrand Bonello.
“A multicultural epicenter, Toronto is one of the most diverse and inclusive cities in the world, and it is the perfect home for Platform to live and grow as a world-class program,” said Piers Handling, director and CEO of TIFF. “The lineup this year aims to shine the spotlight on fearless, artistic films that will inspire a global dialogue around issues that affect us all, and we are thrilled to honour the next generation of filmmakers who are capturing the evolving discourse with their transformative visions.”
“In its inaugural year in 2015, Platform successfully established itself as fundamental to the Festival, and we’re proud to present a dramatically thrilling and daring programme for its second year,” said Cameron Bailey, artistic director of the Toronto International Film Festival. “This year’s group of bold and brilliant filmmakers brought forth narratives that are provocative, personal, and will challenge conventional forms of expression and redefine the art of storytelling. The lineup will give our audiences a window into the minds of some of the most masterful and exploratory directors of our time.”
Platform films will screen from Thursday, September 8 to Thursday, September 15. Each film will have its first screening for public, press and industry at the Winter Garden Theatre.
Platform titles are eligible for the Toronto Platform Prize ($25,000 CAD), which goes to the best film in the program as selected by a three-person international jury, and will be announced at the awards ceremony on September 18, 2016.
The Platform Jury will be announced in the coming weeks. The 41st Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 8 to 18, 2016.
Films screening as part of the Platform program include:
Daguerrotype (Le Secret de la chambre noire) Kiyoshi Kurosawa, France/Japan/Belgium World Premiere
Kiyoshi Kurosawa makes his first film outside Japan with this French-language ghost romance fantasy, about an aging photographer whose obsession with an archaic technique draws his young assistant and beautiful daughter into a dark and mysterious world. Starring Tahar Rahim, Constance Rousseau, Olivier Gourmet, and Mathieu Amalric.
Goldstone Ivan Sen, Australia
International Premiere
Indigenous detective Jay Swan arrives in the Australian outback town of Goldstone investigating a missing persons enquiry. What seems like a simple light duties case opens into a web of crime and corruption. Jay must pull his life together and bury his personal differences with young local cop Josh, so together they can bring justice to Goldstone. Starring Aaron Pedersen, Alex Russell, Pei Pei Cheng, David Gulpilil, David Wenham, and Jacki Weaver.
Heal the Living (Réparer les vivants) Katell Quillévéré, France/Belgium
North American Premiere
It all starts at daybreak, three young surfers on the raging seas. A few hours later, on the way home, an accident occurs. Now entirely dependent upon life-support in a hospital in Le Havre, France, Simon’s existence is little more than an illusion. Meanwhile, in Paris, a woman awaits the organ transplant that will give her a new lease on life. Starring Tahar Rahim, Emmanuelle Seigner, Anne Dorval, Bouli Lanners, Kool Shen, Monia Chokri, Alice Taglioni, Karim Leklou, Alice de Lencquesaing, Finnegan Oldfield, Théo Cholbi, Gabin Verdet, and Dominique Blanc.
Hema Hema: Sing Me a Song While I Wait (he-mà he-mà) Khyentse Norbu, Bhutan/Hong Kong
North American Premiere
The new film from Bhutanese lama and filmmaker Khyentse Norbu chronicles a sacred jungle ritual where masked, anonymous participants seek complete self-knowledge — or descend into thievery, violation, and murder. Starring Tshering Dorji, Sadon Lhamo, Thinley Dorji, and Xun Zhou.
Home Fien Troch, Belgium
North American Premiere
Home portrays the struggle between two generations: teenagers who explore a thin line between trust, friendship, and loyalty, and adults who seem alienated from their past younger selves. Both find it difficult to communicate and understand each other’s closed-off world. The clash can be more brutal than expected. Starring Sebastian Van Dun, Mistral Guidotti, Loïc Batog, Lena Suijkerbuijk, Karlijn Sileghem, Els Deceukelier, Robby Cleiren, Yavuz Saçikara, and Els Dottermans.
Jackie Pablo Larraín, United Kingdom
North American Premiere
After US President John F. Kennedy is murdered, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy fights through grief and trauma to regain her faith, console her children, and define her husband’s historic legacy. Starring Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, Greta Gerwig, Billy Crudup, and John Hurt.
Lady Macbeth William Oldroyd, United Kingdom
World Premiere
Rural England, 1865. Katherine is stifled by her loveless marriage to a bitter man twice her age and his cold, unforgiving family. When she embarks on a passionate affair with a young worker on her husband’s estate, a force is unleashed inside her so powerful that she will stop at nothing to get what she wants. Starring Florence Pugh, Cosmo Jarvis, Paul Hilton, Naomi Ackie, and Christopher Fairbank.
Layla M. Mijke de Jong, Netherlands/Belgium/Germany/Jordan
World Premiere
Eighteen year-old Layla, a Dutch girl with Moroccan roots, joins a group of radical Muslims. She encounters a world that nurtures her ideas initially, but finally confronts her with an impossible choice. Starring Nora El Koussour and Ilias Addab.
Maliglutit (Searchers) Zacharias Kunuk, Canada
World Premiere
Nunavut, Canada circa 1913. Kuanana returns from a caribou hunt to discover his wife and daughter kidnapped, and the rest of his family slaughtered. His father’s spirit helper, the loon Kallulik, sets him on course to overturn fate and reunite his family. Starring Benjamin Kunuk, Karen Ivalu, and Jonah Qunaq.
Moonlight Barry Jenkins, USA
International Premiere
Moonlight is the tender, heartbreaking story of a young man’s struggle to find himself, told across three defining chapters in his life as he experiences the ecstasy, pain, and beauty of falling in love, while grappling with his own sexuality. Anchored by the singular vision of filmmaker Barry Jenkins, Moonlight is an exploration of male masculinity — a sensual, intoxicating piece of cinema that uncovers deep truths about the moments that define us, the people who shape us most, and the ache of love that can last a lifetime. Starring Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Trevante Rhodes, André Holland, Janelle Monáe, Ashton Sanders, Jharrel Jerome, Alex Hibbert, and Jaden Piner.
Nocturama Bertrand Bonello, France/Germany/Belgium
International Premiere
Bertrand Bonello directs this provocative account of a group of young, multiracial radicals whose terrorist attacks on Paris lead to a massive manhunt. Starring Finnegan Oldfield, Vincent Rottiers, Hamza Meziani, Manal Issa, Martin Guyot, Jamil Mc Craven,
Rabah Nait Oufella, Laure Valentinelli, Ilias Le Doré, Robin Goldbronn, Luis Rego, Hermine Karagheuz, and Adèle Haenel.
Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves
(Ceux qui font les révolutions à moitié n’ont fait que se creuser un tombeau)
Mathieu Denis and Simon Lavoie, Canada
World Premiere
Klas Batalo, Giutizia, Tumulto, and Ordine Nuovo, four twenty-somethings from Québec, reject the world in which they live. Three years after the collapse of the Maple Spring protest movement, they resort to a form of vandalism that gradually leads them closer to terrorism. But their revolutionary avant-garde is far from society’s prevailing aspirations and threatens to blow up in their faces. Starring Charlotte Aubin, Laurent Bélanger, Emmanuelle Lussier-Martinez, and Gabrielle Tremblay.
“One of Them Days” and “Mufasa: The Lion King” In Tight Race For Top Spot In Weekend Box Office
The Keke Palmer buddy comedy "One of Them Days" opened in first place on the North American box office charts on a particularly slow Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.
The R-rated Sony release earned $11.6 million from 2,675 theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday, beating Disney's "Mufasa: The Lion King" by a hair. By the end of Monday's holiday, "Mufasa" will have the edge, however.
"One of Them Days" cost only $14 million to produce, which it is expected to earn by Monday. The very well-reviewed buddy comedy stars Palmer and SZA as friends and roommates scrambling to get money for rent before their landlord evicts them. Notably it's the first Black female-led theatrical comedy since "Girls Trip" came out in 2017 and it currently carries a stellar 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
But the marketplace was also quite weak overall. The total box office for Friday, Saturday and Sunday will add up to less than $80 million, according to data from Comscore, making it one of the worst Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekends since 1997.
"For an individual film like 'One of Them Days' this was a great weekend," said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. "You can still find success stories within what is overall a low grossing weekend for movie theaters."
The Walt Disney Co.'s "Mufasa" was close by in second place with $11.5 million from the weekend, its fifth playing in theaters. Globally, the Barry Jenkins-directed prequel has made $588 million. It even beat a brand-new offering, the Blumhouse horror "Wolf Man," which debuted in third place with $10.6 million from 3,354 North American theaters.
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