Toronto film festival's int'l jury awards home talents

The Platform jury members include China's Jia Zhangke, Holland's Agnieszka Holland and France's Claire Denis, all world-class auteurs.

"The film Hurt greatly touched all of us with its in-depth observation into a Canadian individual engaging with universal human disadvantages," Jia told Xinhua after the awards ceremony.

The three jurors were only supposed to choose one winner, but also decided to handed out three honorable mentions to other films that impressed them: Gabriel Mascaro's Neon Bull from Brazil, He Ping's The Promised Land from China, and Pablo Trapero's The Clan from Argentina.

He Ping told Xinhua that it's a great encouragement to an experimental film like The Promised Land. "As a master of historical drama, He Ping in this film turns his spotlight onto current social changes in China, which impressed the jury most," Jia said.

Jurors from the International Federation of Film Critics awarded prizes to the Slovakian addiction drama Eva Nova by Marko Skop and to the Mexican refugee drama Desierto.

Two Canadian coming-of-age stories gained recognition amongst the TIFF prizes: Best Canadian First Feature to Andrew Cividino's Sleeping Giant, previously lauded at Cannes, and Best Canadian Feature Film to Stephen Dunn's Closet Monster.

Displacement and immigration was a focus of the film festival, and it was fitting that one of the awards, the FIPRESCI Special Presentations prize, went to Jonas Cuaron's Desierto from Mexico, a drama about a group of would-be immigrants whose dream of entering the United States becomes a nightmare.

The Toronto film festival brought together 399 features and shorts from 71 countries and regions.

"We are a family of world cinema. TIFF is one of the biggest film festivals in the world, and we have the best audiences in the world," said Cameron Baily, artistic director of the film festival.

Related:

Film festival showcases Chinese culture