Julie Delpy and Toronto's KazikRadwanski to compete for TIFF prize

New films from actress-turned-writer/director Julie Delpy and Toronto indie filmmaker KazikRadwanski are among the titles chosen for the Toronto International Film Festival's competitive Platform section.

Radwanski's feature, a Canada/USA production entitled Anne at 13,000 ft,is the sole Canadian entry in the category, which offers a $20,000 juried prize to the best film. Delpy directs and stars in the film, My Zoe,as a divorcee forced into contact with her ex because they are co-parenting their daughter Zoe, played by Sophia Ally.

Festival organizers said the program's opening film will be the U.K. production Rocksfrom Sarah Gavron, which centres on a teenager who suddenly finds herself struggling to take care of herself and her little brother.

And the closing film is the Italy/France production Martin Eden,directed by Pietro Marcello, an adaptation of the 1909 Jack London novel of the same title.

"Whether they are debuts or mid-career works, these films push the boundaries of narrative filmmaking in surprising and rigorous ways, some using documentary or experimental techniques in their approaches," Platform co-curator Andrea Picard said Wednesday in a release.

Four of the 10 films chosen this year are directed by women. They include the France/Germany astronaut drama Proxima,directed by Alice Winocour and starring Eva Green as an astronaut and mother who signs up for a yearlong space mission.

Other films in the program includeThe Moneychanger by Federico Veiroj from Uruguay/Argentina/Germany; The Sleepwalkersby Paula Hernandez from Argentina/Uruguay; and Workforceby David Zonanafrom Mexico.

Each year, the Platform program features up to 12 works that have high artistic merit and a strong directorial vision. The festival runs Sept. 5 to 15.

Toronto documentarian Alan Zweig won the inaugural Platform prize in 2015 with his biopic Hurt,a portrait of cancer survivor Steve Fonyo. Zweig is back at the festival this year with the documentary Coppers,about the careers of retired police officers.