The Toronto International Film Festival has announced the lineup for its Platform section, a juried program spotlighting trailblazing directors from around the world. “Rocks,” from “Suffragette” director Sarah Gavron, will serve as the opening film. Overall, women helmed four of the program’s 10 pics, an improvement on last year’s 33 percent.
“Rocks,” written by Theresa Ikoko and Claire Wilson, sees the eponymous character (Bukky Bakray), a teenager, raising her younger brother by herself. In order to ensure she and her sibling won’t be separated, Rocks and her friends must continuously circumvent and outsmart the authorities.
“’Rocks’ brilliantly reimagines the coming-of-age narrative with a pathos and precision we rarely see,” stated Cameron Bailey, Platform Co-Curator, per a press release. “Across only two features [‘Suffragette’ and ‘Brick Lane’], Gavron has already proven herself as a distinct voice in world cinema, and we are proud to open this year’s Platform section with her remarkable third directorial effort, an affecting celebration of empathy and an urgent reminder of the essential value of friendship.”
“I am so honored and excited that ‘Rocks’ will open Platform, a section that has included films by some of my recent cinema heroes,” said Gavron. “With ‘Rocks’ we set out to collaborate with the young people in the cast, working in a way I have never worked before to create a film that feels true to the contemporary teenage girl experience.” She continued, “Like the London of our film, Toronto is filled with people from all walks of life, and the Festival has — in my experience — the most passionate audiences. It is very special for us to be invited with the cast for their first film premiere.”
“Rocks,” like its fellow Platform films, is eligible for the Toronto Platform Prize, which comes with $20,000 CAD (about $15,000 USD). The winner is selected by a three-person jury. This year’s jury members are “Chevalier” director Athina Rachel Tsangari, critic Jessica Kiang, and Berlinale Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian.
Julie Delpy’s “My Zoe,” Alice Winocour’s “Proxima” and Paula Hernández’s “The Sleepwalkers” (“Los Sonámbulos”) are also among the 2019 Platform titles.
“My Zoe,” Delpy’s seventh feature, is a suspense drama about a recently divorced mother pushed to the edge. “Proxima” marks Winocour’s third feature as a director. It follows a woman (Eva Green) training for a one-year journey in space and struggling in her relationship with her daughter. Hernández’s latest also examines the bond between mother and daughter. “The Sleepwalkers” traces the parallel lives of a mother and daughter and explores the tension between desire, expectation, and family.
“With a dynamic, international slate that assembles some of brightest cinematic voices of today and tomorrow, this year’s lineup distills the essence of the Festival,” Bailey stressed. “These films tackle some of the most urgent concerns of our day using original, exciting cinematic language.”
TIFF 2019 runs September 5-15. The fest previously announced its Gala and Special Presentations schedules and revealed Meryl Streep will be this year’s recipient of the TIFF Tribute Actor Award.
