The Toronto International Film Festival today announced that filmmakers Jia Zhang-ke, Claire Denis and Agnieszka Holland will make up its inaugural Platform jury. The new section will champion directors’ cinema from around the world, with the winning film receiving a $25,000 prize at the September 20 awards ceremony.
“We have a long history with Zhang-ke, Claire and Agnieszka,” said TIFF director and chief exec Piers Handling. “They are master filmmakers with unique voices that we have championed throughout the years, both at the festival and in our year-round programming. We are honored to welcome them back to Toronto on our 40th anniversary as we celebrate our renewed commitment to artistically ambitious filmmaking with Platform.”
Said TIFF artistic director Cameron Bailey: “Platform is our new home for original, personal filmmaking, and this is our dream jury. We are thankful to these visionary filmmakers for making the time to join us this September. We can’t wait for the conversations they’ll have about the Platform films.”
A dozen films will make up the selection, inspired by Jia’s own 2000 film Platform, with a focus on works of high artistic merit that demonstrate a strong directorial vision. The film lineup will be announced in the coming weeks.
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