Tim Mielants’ reform school drama Steve starring Cillian Murphy, Kasia Adamik’s Warsaw political thriller Winter Of The Crow with Lesley Manville, and Valentyn Vasyanovych’s To The Victory!, set in post-war Ukraine, are among nine world premieres set for the Platform section of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
The section’s jury will consist of chair Carlos Marqués-Marcet, the Spanish filmmaker who last year won the Platform Award for They Will Be Dust, UK actor and director Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Québécois filmmaker Chloé Robichaud.
Also among the section’s 10 films representing 19 countries is Farnoosh Samadi’s Iranian queer love story Between Dreams And Hope; György Pálfi’s European co-production Hen, a live-action tale about a chicken that escapes the farm; At The Place Of Ghosts from Indigenous filmmaker Bretten Hannam; and Orian Barki and Meriem Bennani’s Bouchra, Platform’s first animated entry.
Pauline Loquès’ Nino, which won a prize in this year’s Cannes Critics’ Week, will receive its international premiere in Platform.
The Platform programme, celebrating its 10th anniversary as part of the 50th edition of TIFF (September 4-14), is the festival’s only competitive section and focuses on “bold visions from early- to mid-career filmmakers poised to break out on the world stage”.
The jury-selected Platform Award, which comes with a cash prize of CAD $20,000 (USD $14,620), will be presented on TIFF’s final day.
“This year we have a lot of varied themes that keep popping up among the films, which is always exciting as a programmer, when you see these through lines, because it means us as a global society are thinking about the same things,” said Robyn Citizen, TIFF’s Platform lead and director of programming, festival and cinematheque.
2025 Platform lineup
Between Dreams And Hope (Iran)
Dir. Farnoosh Samadi
World premiere
Bouchra (It-Mor-US)
Dir. Orian Barki & Meriem Bennani
World premiere
Hen (Ger-Greece-Hung)
Dir. György Pálfi
World premiere
Nino (Fr)
Dir. Pauline Loquès
International premiere
At The Place Of Ghosts (Sk+te’kmujue’katik) (Can-Belg)
Dir. Bretten Hannam
World premiere
Steve (Ire-UK)
Dir. Tim Mielants
World premiere
Opening film
The Currents (Switz–Arg)
Dir. Milagros Mumenthaler
World premiere
The World Of Love (S Kor)
Dir. Yoon Ga-eun
World premiere
To The Victory! (UK-Lith)
Dir. Valentyn Vasyanovych
World premiere
Winter Of The Crow (Pol-Lux-UK)
Dir. Kasia Adamik
World premiere