Canadian filmmaker Patricia Rozema has signed on as jury chair for the Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF) competitive Platform program.

The Kingston, Ont.-born writer-producer-director (I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing) will be joined by Norwegian Pakistani filmmaker Iram Haq (What Will People Say) and Mumbai-based filmmaker Chaitanya Tamhane (Court) on the jury, which awards the $20,000 Platform Prize to the best film in the auteur-driven program. Last year’s winner was Yuni by Kamila Andini.

Two Canadian features are competing in the Platform program: Riceboy Sleeps (pictured), written, directed and produced by Vancouver’s Anthony Shim under his Lonesome Heroes Productions banner; and Viking, directed and co-written by Montreal’s Stéphane Lafleur, and produced by Luc Déry and Kim McCraw of micro_scope. Eric K. Boulianne is the other screenwriter on the project.

The world premiere of Emily, the feature debut by Frances O’Connor of the U.K., will be the program’s opening film.

The other eight films in the program are: Brazil/Argentina copro Charcoal (Carvão) by Carolina Markowicz; France’s The Gravity (La Gravité) by Cédric Ido; Hawa by Maïmouna Doucouré, also of France; How to Blow Up a Pipeline by Daniel Goldhaber of the U.S.; Iran/France copro Subtraction (Tafrigh) by Mani Haghighi; Switzerland’s Thunder (Foudre) by Carmen Jaquier; and Tora’s Husband by Rima Das of India.

Now in its seventh year and named after Jia Zhang-ke’s groundbreaking second feature, the Platform program champions bold, directorial visions made by filmmakers in various stages of their career. Platform is curated by TIFF chief programming officer Anita Lee; director of festival programming Robyn Citizen; and senior manager of festival programming, Ravi Srinivasan.

The festival runs Sept. 8 to 18.

Image courtesy of TIFF