S Viswanath

Birthed in 2015 TIFF’s Platform Section, a competitive segment, with a specific mandate to create a distinctive cinema rostrum to present a platoon of creative cinematic works with bold directorial perspectives carrying nifty and nuanced thematic narratives predominantly focused on films curating films of early to mid-career filmmakers poised to strike it big on the global movie marquee.

Designed and emphasising on identifying and supporting filmmakers displaying strong directorial vision and singularly solitary storytelling viewpoint, TIFF’s Platform Section seeks to hand hold and highlight individualistic voices in international cinema arena so as to enable and empower these promising directors to garner due recognition and wide exposure on cinema coliseum.

Specifically structed to identify and support filmmakers showing immense promise and impact in early or midstream of their careers, the Platform Section showcases films from around the globe that exhibit and eclectic range of cinematic styles and creative visions. So much so, over these last decade, it has become a space where filmmakers with distinctive voices and styles can find a home and constructively connect with discerning audiences.

Stepping into its tenth anniversary, the 50th TIFF as it celebrates the occasion, is bringing groundbreaking new voices and global perspectives while honouring filmmakers with strong directorial vision and high artistic merit on the global amphitheatre.

Inspired, and taking its name from Jia Zhang-Ke’s groundbreaking with the eponymous name – Platform, the films in the Section, this time, symbolically curtailed to ten choicest cinemas, which are eligible for the coveted Platform Award, chosen by the three-member elite and erudite international jury, will receive $20,000 CAD cash prize, who emerges the eventually winner.

This year’s auteur competitive section’s luminous line-up of ten most compelling cinematic voices and exceptional films on the rise is drawn from 19 countries.

The Platform Section’s screening programme flags off with the World Premiere of Steve, from Belgian director Tim Mielants, which incidentally marks Mielants’ debut appearance at TIFF. The other nonet films that comprise the Platform Section’s Competition Carousel include Farnoosh Samadi’s Iranian film Between Dreams and Hope, director duo Orian Barki & Meriem Bennani’s Moroccan fare Bouchra, György Pálfi’s from Greece Hen (Gallina), Pauline Loques’ Nino from France, Canadian filmmaker Bretten Hannam’s Sk+te’kmujue’katik (At the Place of Ghosts), Milagros Mumenthaler’s Argentinian film The Currents, South Korean Yoon Ga-eun’s The World of Love, Valentyn Vasyanovych’s To The Victory! from Ukraine, and Kasia Adamik’s Polish thriller Winter of the Crow.

These specially curated by TIFF’s programming team under Robyn Citizen, Platform Lead & Director of Programming, Festival & Cinematheque, the section turns the spotlights on ten of the fantabulous films from early- to mid-career filmmakers on the cusp of breaking out on the world stage.

Past Official Selections include acclaimed works such as wonderful coming of age film Anthony Shim’s Riceboy Sleeps (TIFF ’22), Darius Marder’s Sound of Metal (TIFF ’19), Pietro Marcello’s Martin Eden (TIFF ’19), William Oldroyd’s Lady Macbeth (TIFF ’17), and Barry Jenkins’ evocative and emotive film Moonlight (TIFF ’16). The Platform Award, carrying a cash prize of Canadian$20,000 will be presented as part of TIFF awards night on the final day of TIFF on Sunday, September 14, 2025.

This year’s Platform comprises of Jury Chair Spanish film writer, editor, and director Carlos Marqués-Marcet, who won the 2024 Platform Award for They Will Be Dust in the company of Oscar-nominated actor, writer, composer, and director Marianne Jean-Baptiste, and Québécois filmmaker Chloé Robichaud, behind the acclaimed Sundance hit Two Women. and has attended TIFF for her films Days of Happiness (TIFF ’23), Boundaries (TIFF ’16), among others. Previous Platform Jury Scroll include: Atom Egoyan, Hur Jin-ho, Jane Schoenbrun, Claire Denis, Béla Tarr, Brian De Palma, Mira Nair, Riz Ahmed, Jia Zhang-Ke, Patricia Rozema, and Barry Jenkins.

Iranian Farnoosh Samadis whose 180° Rule (TIFF ’20) and short film Disappearance (TIFF ’17) both premiered at TIFF, returns with Between Dreams and Hope a bold queer love story between Azad a trans man, and Noram two young lovers toggling between tradition and modernity in their society and family. Together, they travel to remote Iranian village to face Azad’s estranged father and obtain documents that would permit the pair to live authentically.

Bouchra by Moroccan duo Orian Barki & Meriem Bennani is an animation feature about 35-year-old Moroccan Coyote and filmmaker, Bouchra, residing in New York and chronicles the impact her queerness has on her relationship with her mother, Aïcha, in Casablanca. Bouchra chronicles a humorous and tender portrait of eros and pain that both have to understand to move forward.

Hungary’s György Pálfi of 2002 Hukkle fame and known for his experimental and visually striking films this time around presents Hen an inventive live-action feature which chronicles a remarkable chicken which escapes from her grisly fate from a chicken farm while finding refuge in the courtyard of a ramshackle restaurant in this unorthodox and bold story. Here, the fowl discovers love, confronts the pecking order, as she battles to protect her eggs from the greedy owner.

Pauline Loquès’ French fare Nino follows its titular character over three pivotal days with him beset with major health challenge, to address which, his doctors have assigned him two vital tasks. These two missions lead him on a sojourn through Paris, compelling him to reconnect with the world — and himself.

The Belgian film Sk+te’kmujue’katik (At the Place of Ghosts) by Canada’s Bretten Hannam follows siblings Mise’l and Antle once close as children but have now drifted apart as adults following trauma of their upbringing. The two are haunted by a malevolent spirit of bones and rot, forcing them to reunite and venture deep into forest to confront their trauma together.

Steve by Belgium director Tim Mielants set in mid-90s, Steve is a reimagining of Max Porter’s Sunday Times bestseller Shy. The film follows a pivotal day in the life of headteacher Steve and his students at a last-chance reform school amidst a world that has forsaken them. As Steve fights to protect the school’s integrity and impending closure, we witness him grappling with his own mental health. In parallel to Steve’s struggles, we meet Shy, a troubled teen caught between his past and what lies ahead as he tries to reconcile his inner fragility with his impulse for self-destruction and violence.

Renowned for her evocative narratives, Argentinian born Swiss woman filmmaker Milagros Mumenthaler’s The Currents is an enigmatic film which follows Lina on a business trip to Geneva., driven by an impulse that puts her life in peril. On her return to Buenos Aires, Lina keeps what happened hidden, but the past which she escaped from emerges and puts her present in abyss.

The World of Love by South Korea’s Yoon Ga-eun coming of age film introduces us to Jooin, an enigmatic 17-year-old high schooler curious about and baffled by love. One day, some words she says in a fit of anger cause a major scene. Afterwards, she receives anonymous notes questioning her behaviour, and cracks begin to appear in her formerly peaceful world. “Jooin, who is the real you?”

Ukrainian film director To The Victory! speaks of Ukraine, in the near future. The war has ended. A film director is out of work, out of luck, and out of touch with his family abroad. While his wife and daughter built a new life in Vienna, he stays behind — confused, restless, and convinced that things will get better. Eventually. Probably. Maybe.

Polish woman film director Kasia Adamik’s Winter of the Crow, based on a short story by Nobel Prize–winning author Olga Tokarczuk is set during the onset of Poland’s Martial Law era. While the country is shut down British psychiatry professor Dr Joan Andrews arrives as a guest lecturer in Warsaw. On the streets, taxis have been replaced by tanks; citizens are treated like criminals. As chaos reigns, Joan witnesses a brutal murder by the secret police. In mortal danger and trapped as Poland is closed down, Joan becomes a hunted fugitive running for her life.

https://www.tiff.net/platform-award
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_5yVhUT5zw

S VISWANATH is a veteran film critic who officiates as JURY at several National & International Film Festivals. He deputises as CHIEF CINEMA CURATOR/PROGRAMMER & CREATIVE ADVISOR for Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes). He also curates & advises on the selection of shorts & documentaries for Bengaluru International Short Film Festival (BISFF). Mr Viswanath is the author of “RANDOM REFLECTIONS: A Kaleidoscopic Musings on Kannada Cinema”.