The Platform Prize is an annual film award, presented by the Toronto International Film Festival to films of "high artistic merit that also demonstrate a strong directorial vision."[1] Introduced in 2015, the award is presented to a film, selected by an international jury of three prominent filmmakers or actors, from among the films screened in the Platform program. The program normally screens between eight and twelve films; only one winner is selected each year, although as with TIFF's other juried awards the jurors have the discretion to give honorable mentions to other films besides the overall winner.
The winner of the Platform Prize receives $25,000 from the award's current corporate sponsor, Air France.[2]
According to festival programmer Cameron Bailey, the Platform program and prize were established because "films are passing through the festival without the attention they deserve".[3] He compared Platform's intentions to the Cannes Film Festival's Directors' Fortnight and Un Certain Regard streams rather than its Palme d'Or award,[3] indicating that it was meant to provide a platform for distinctive or innovative films but not to supplant the People's Choice Award as the top award at the festival. The award is named after filmmaker Jia Zhang-ke's 2000 historical drama.[4]
After the award is announced, the festival offers a repeat screening of the winner at the TIFF Bell Lightbox on the final day of the festival.