The Toronto International Film Festival unveiled the 10 films that will comprise its Platform lineup, a section that is intended to highlight emerging filmmakers from around the globe.
The selection includes “Pedro Páramo,” the feature directing debut of acclaimed cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto; “Viktor,” a documentary about the Russian invasion of Ukraine told by war photographer Olivier Sarbil; and “The Wolves Always Come at Night,” Gabrielle Brady’s look at the impact of climate change on Mongolian herders. There’s also Tallulah H. Schwab’s Kafkaesque “Mr. K” featuring the mercurial Crispin Glover as a traveling magician, as well as Goya-winner Carlos Marqués-Marcet’s contemporary dance-musical and ensemble drama “They Will Be Dust.”
Nacho Vigalondo’s “Daniela Forever,” which stars Henry Golding and “The White Lotus” breakout Beatrice Grannò, will be the section’s opening film. The films represent 17 countries including Spain, Taiwan, Bulgaria, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Mexico and Ukraine.
This year’s jury includes the Academy Award–nominated Canadian director, screenwriter, and producer Atom Egoyan (“The Sweet Hereafter”), who will serve as the jury head, as well as South Korean filmmaker Hur Jin-ho (“A Normal Family”) and American filmmaker and essayist Jane Schoenbrun.
This is the program’s ninth year. Previous selections have included Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight” and Darius Marder’s “Sound of Metal.” The films are eligible for the Platform Prize, which includes an award of $20,000 CAD.
See the full lineup below.
“Daniela Forever” — Opening Film
Nacho Vigalondo | Spain/Belgium
World Premiere
Sales Title
Henry Golding soulfully portrays a bereaved man who enrolls in a clinical trial for a drug that allows him to reunite with his lost lover, played by Beatrice Grannò through lucid dreams.
“Daughter’s Daughter”
Huang Xi | Taiwan
World Premiere
Sales Title
Taiwanese filmmaker Huang Xi, known for her debut feature, “Missing Johnny,” and HBO series “Twisted Strings,” brings her latest work, “Daughter’s Daughter”, to TIFF 2024. After a terrible accident takes the life of her youngest, a mother must confront her eldest daughter who she gave up after a teenage pregnancy.
“Mr. K”
Tallulah H. Schwab | Netherlands/Belgium/Norway
World Premiere
Sales Title
This is a second feature by Amsterdam-based director Tallulah H. Schwab (“Confetti Harvest”). “Mr. K” star Crispin Glover brings his best to Schwab’s delightfully Kafkaesque tale of a travelling magician who finds himself in a hotel full of unusual guests — with no way out.
“Paying for It”
Sook-Yin Lee | Canada
World Premiere
Sales Title
Canadian filmmaker, musician, and actor Sook-Yin Lee connects the past with the present, bringing together Canadian underground artists and innovative cross-generational musicians in a cultural snapshot of turn-of-the-millennium Toronto in “Paying For It.” With subtle comic energy and a great cast, this adaptation of Chester Brown’s autobiographical 2011 graphic novel is a movie only Lee could make… because it’s her story, too.
“Pedro Páramo”
Rodrigo Prieto | Mexico
World Premiere
Unfolding in a seemingly abandoned Mexican town where past and present beguilingly coexist, the feature directorial debut of legendary cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (“Killers of the Flower Moon”) is a mesmerizing story of desire, corruption, and inheritance.
“The Wolves Always Come at Night”
Gabrielle Brady | Australia/Mongolia/Germany
World Premiere
Sales Title
Australian director and screenwriter Gabrielle Brady (“Hungry Ghosts”) lays bare the emotional ruptures of climate change and urban migration on Mongolian herders, told through the experiences of one family. After a devastating storm wrought by climate change forces them from their home in the Mongolian countryside to the city, a young couple are forced to adapt to a new way of life in this breathtaking and heartbreaking hybrid film.
“They Will Be Dust” (Polvo serán)
Carlos Marqués-Marcet | Spain/Italy/Switzerland
World Premiere
Sales Title
Spanish film director, screenwriter, and film editor Carlos Marqués-Marcet, whose 2014 film “10.000 KM” won the Goya for best new director, treats the audience to a unique, daring, and rewarding look at our unavoidable death.
“Triumph”
Petar Valchanov, Kristina Grozeva | Bulgaria/Greece
World Premiere
Sales Title
This latest work from co-directors Petar Valchanov and Kristina Grozeva, combined with their previous films “The Lesson” (TIFF ’14) and “Glory” (2016), forms a trilogy inspired by sensationalist news stories from their homeland that prove once and for all that truth is stranger than fiction.
“Viktor”
Olivier Sarbil | Ukraine/USA
World Premiere
Sales Title
This bold documentary from filmmaker and veteran war photographer Olivier Sarbil offers a deeply personal perspective on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Crafting an audiovisual experience carefully designed to match that of its subject, “Viktor” is an intimate portrait of a Deaf person navigating chaos and violence.
“Winter in Sokcho”
Koya Kamura | France
World Premiere
Sales Title
In this debut from filmmaker Koya Kamura, a young woman struggling to claim her identity and independence has her routine disrupted when a French artist checks into the small guesthouse in snowy Sokcho where she works.
Source Agencies
