S Viswanath

Toronto International Film Festival aka TIFF stepping into its 50^th Edition this September never ceases to surprise or surpass itself, year on year.

In keeping with its global brand equity and high profile reputation as among prestigious “Big Five” international film festivals a la Venice Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, and Sundance Film Festival, TIFFhas grown in size, scope and stature.

This, thanks to its enterprising and visionary programming team led by their dynamic, bespectacled and ever smiling leader CEO Cameron Bailey and accessible, charismatic Chief Programming Officer Anita Lee.

Founded in 1976, as ‘Festival of Festivals,’  at Windsor Arms Hotel by Bill Marshall, Henk Van der Kolk and Dusty Cohl, whose inaugural reported modest attendance of 35,000,TIFF’s initial focus confined primarily on showcasing films which had their premiers elsewhere.

However, over time, in the last 50 chequered years, has risen itself to be a major platform for not only world premiers of films which identity themselves with TIFF as first go to and be seen film festivals, but also foremost launching pad for emerging new talents on the global movie marquee. 

Reputed for showcasing innovative and groundbreaking films TIFF has set itself apart carving a niche for itself from other major film festivals focusing not only big ticket box office international films but also simultaneously featuring some of lesser-known emerging homegrown Canadian talents.

So much so, over years one can vouch for festival’s singular commitment to showcasing emerging talentswhich has been primary factor in its stupendous and sustaining success. TIFF has witnessed several acclaimed filmmakers finding their feet at its forum first as they gradually go on to stamp their creative individual cinematic imprint to covet accolades and awards and acclaim thereafter. 

Screening and ensuring audiences eclectic engagement with veritable diverse range of films across genres and thematic concerns and individualistic cinematic idioms, grammar and styles, TIFF is also credited with its strong reputation and innate ability to generate buzz and critical acclaim for films, that have often influenced their subsequent distribution and awards prospects in film circuits that follow.

As a premier platform for emerging filmmakers, TIFF has singularly ensured new and upcoming filmmakers not only showcase their work, but also gain exposure, and right connect with industry professionalsprofoundly impact TIFF’s own growth and history.

With its influence extending far beyond the festival itselfhelping shape cinematic landscape, focusing on innovative storytelling, emerging talents, and being instrumental in promoting diversity and inclusion with a stated commitment to championing films from underrepresented voices.

This year the festival’s diverse programming features promises a delectable range of films under its spectacular showpiece segments – Gala Presentations: which showcases the most anticipated films of the year; Special Presentations wherein selection of films seen to generate buzz and discussion find a place and Discoverydedicated to showcasing emerging talent and innovative storytelling (yet to be unveiled as yet).

Among its illustrious Red Carpet Scroll of Officials Selections’complete compendium of films under Gala and Special Presentations programmes will witness World Premieres of Aziz Ansari’s Good Fortune, Maude Apatow’s Poetic License, Isabel Coixet’s Three Goodbyes, Romain Gavras’ Sacrifice, David Michôd’s Christy, Yeon Sang-ho’s The Ugly, James Vanderbilt’s Nuremberg, and Alice Winocour’s Couturewhile Anne Emond’sPeak Everything will bring curtains down at the traditional Closing Night Gala on the last evening of the festival, Saturday, September 13, 2025.

Among other acclaimed filmmakers’ films TIFF will showcase includes Guillermo del Toro, Mamoru Hosoda, Zacharias Kunuk, Baz Luhrmann, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Jafar Panahi, Benny Safdie, and Gus Van Sant, promising a veritable star-studded, red carpets bejewelled with crowd-favourite Hollywood and international talent and marquee moments on and off screen that have defined TIFF these past five decades.

The Gala and Special Presentations programmes,reputed for celebrating very best of contemporary cinema across genres and styles, from every nook and niche of the globe, sees about 60 plus films from over 30 countries showcasing bold storytelling, global perspectives, and power of film to connect audiences across cultures, says TIFF.

Besides previously announced curated picks of films those which will vie for cinephiles attention are Alex Winter’s Adulthood cheeky American comedy where siblings Megan and Noah chancing upon a dead bodyburied in their parents’ basement, set up a roller coaster adventure of crime and murder.

Bobby Farrelly’s Driver’s Edfun-filled, crackling campus romcom sees group of teens spiriting away their school’s driver’s ed car embarking on a road trip to help their high school senior track down his college-freshman girlfriend and woo her back.

Scarlett Johansson’s Eleanor The Greatscreened at Cannes, is a tender, witty and comedic drama of intergenerational female friendship, wherein a nonagenarian Eleanor Morgenstein, leaves Florida to settle in New York where she befriends a 19-year-old student. The film is a  subtle portrayal of friendship between two women of polar opposites exploring, through Eleanor, how life takes a dangerous turn of its own.

Eternity by David Freyne has Joan caught betwixt Hamletian dilemma of where to spend eternity in the afterlife, whether with man she spent her life or her first love, who died young, awaits her arrival.

David Mackenzie’s Fuze is high adrenaline action thriller as chaos reigns when military and police embark upon a mass evacuation following the discovery of an unexploded WWII bomb at a busy construction site in London, racing against the clock.

Glenrothan by Brian Cox is a siblings drama with two brothers following a violent exchange with their father on the day of their mother’s funeral, after four decades reunite in the land of their birth. The younger had left the Highland home and headed to America.

Aziz Ansari’s Good Fortuneis a comedic actioner wherein a well-meaning angel Gabriel meddles in the affairs of a struggling gig worker and a wealthy venture capitalist.

Canada’s Ally Pankiw’s Lilith Fair: Building a Mysteryis a documentary about groundbreaking all-female Lilith Fair Music Festival, of 1990s,  based on 2019 Vanity Fair article “Building a Mystery: An Oral History of Lilith Fair.” The documentary providesa deeper understanding of festival’s impact on female, non-binary, and queer musicians and fans.

Nuremberg from James Vanderbilt is American historical drama film based on 2013 non-fiction book The Nazi and the Psychiatrist by Jack El-Hai, following psychiatrist Douglas Kelley challenged with determining if Hermann Göring is fit to stand at Nuremberg trials.

Annemarie Jacir’s Palestine 36 chronicles the 1936farmers revolt by Palestinians against British colonialism which saw the beginning of largest and longest uprising against Britain’s three decades reign.

Festival closing film Peak Everything(Amour apocalypse) by Canada’s Anne Émond is a romantic comedy revolving round a kennel owner who falls for customer service rep over phone and embarks on an adventurous, bilingual romantic trip to trace her amidst a natural disaster.

Rachel Lee Goldenberg’s Swipedis adocu-dramainspired by the story of Whitney Wolfe Herd, founder and former CEO of dating platform Bumble.

French filmTwo Pianos (Deux Pianos) by Arnaud Desplechin is a romance drama set in Lyon following a virtuoso pianist’s return from Asia and his experience of an “impossible love story.”

Colombian Simon Mesa Soto’s comical drama A Poet traces an aging and erratic poet Oscar Restrepo’s obsession with poetry,meeting talented teenager Yurladyand seeks solace in tutoring her to cultivate her talent.

Bad Applesby Jonatan Etzler is  satirical thriller whereina primary school teacher is forced to take drastic action along with her two kids on a foul-mouthed, violent student, only to learn how student community will do anything their power to preserve harmony and their sense of safety.

Edward Berger’s Ballad of a Small Playeris about a down and out high-stakes gambler deep in debts trying to lay low in Macau where he encounters a kindred spirit who could hold the key to his redemption.

California Schemin by James McAvoy is a musical drama about high on luck two Scottish lads who con the music industry by fronting as established Californian rap duo, bag a record deal appearing on MTV before their deceit is discovered.

Moroccan Maryam Touzani’s Calle Malagarevolves round an aged Spanish woman in Tangier who resists her daughter’s move to sell her home.

Director duo Tom Dean & Mac Eldridge’s Charlie Harper is a romantic saga of Harper and Charlie as they navigate to build a life together facing relationship challenges. While Harper strives to carve out a career as a chef, Charlie is stuck, testing their relationship.

Christy by David Michôd is a biopic which brings on to screen the story of Christy Martin, the most successful female boxer of 90s.

French director Alice Winocour’s Couture spotlights on an American filmmaker Maxine who arrives in Paris for Fashion Week and encounters many challenges in his voyage of self-discovery.

Dead Man’s Wire by Gus Van Sant is a historical crime drama that depicts the 1977 real life kidnapping  by Tony Kiritsis of his bank mortgager and request for hostage money and an apology.

Nic Pizzolatto’s Easy’s Waltz starring Al Pacino is about a down-on-his-luck crooner getting a comeback chance from his old-school Vegas personality. However, his brother’s schemes and his own penchant for self-sabotage threaten to derail the deal.

EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert by Australia’s Baz Luhrmann is a meld of documentary and concert feature using the unused footage from Elvis: That’s the Way It Ismarking a new chapter in the preservation of Presley’s legacy.

Yaniv Raz’s Eternal Returnis an epic romance which follows Cassa young woman who travels back in time to reignite love in her again after she meets Virgil, a cartographer, who, along with his partner Malcolm, help her in this sojourn.

Frankenstein by Guillermo del Toro is American gothic sci-fi flick based on Mary Shelley’s novel about a brilliant but egotistical scientist who following a monstrous experiment gives life to a creature that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the master creator and itself.

Featured earlier at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival If I Had Legs I’d Kick You by Mary Bronstein which won Silver Bear at Berlinale for actress Rose Byrne speaks of motherhood on periphery dogged by waves of frustration, helplessness and anger centring around a mother and her daughter end up in a cheap motel as the ceiling at her home develops a crack.

Winner of Cannes 2025 Palme d’Or and screened at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Iran’s eminent auteur Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident(Un simple accident)is an edgy thriller about political repression in Iran’s and moral dilemma Vahid a former political prisonerand host of others he enlists face, after he kidnaps Eghbal believing he was their torturer in prison, whether to slay him or not.

Mexico’s director duo Mariana Rondón&Marité Ugás’ It Would Be Night in Caracasin the crumbling city of Caracas, after burying her mother, Adelaida finds her home taken by armed militia. With society falling apart, she must risk all, including her identity, to survive.

Japanese film Kokuho (National Treasure) by Lee Sang-il set in the post-war Japan’s economic boom, revolves around a gangster family-born Kikuo Tachibana adopted by a kabuki actor and soon develops into a gifted performer despite his criminal lineage.

In the gentle and subtle sophomore featureKy Nam Innby Vietnam’s Leon Le’s set in post-war Saigon, a young translator and an older widow find comfort with each other.

Canadian Philippe Falardeau’s Lovely Dayis a comedydrama based on the novel Mille secrets mille dangers by Alain Farah about Alain, Lebanese Canadian man struggling to navigate the emotional and interpersonal challenges that threaten to derail the day of his wedding to Virginie.

Meadowlarksby Canada’s Tasha Hubbard is based in part on her 2017 documentaryfilm Birth of a Family, which follows four Cree siblings, separated as babies through the Sixties Scoop, that agree to meet in Banff over a holiday weekend.

Monkey in a Cageor Bandar from India by Anurag Kashyap starring Bobby Deol and Sanya Malhotrais inspired by true events with its synopsis still under the wraps.

Richard Linklater’sNouvelle Vagueis a brisk and breezycomedy drama and “an elegant love letter to the influential era in French cinema” which follows shooting of Jean-Luc Godard’s ‘Breathless’., one of the first feature films of Nouvelle Vague era of French cinema, in 1959, “that brought revolutionary movement crashing into global movie-going (and making) consciousness.”

Poetic License by Maude Apatow is a feature directorial debut, which is a comedy drama, where Liz, a former therapist and soon-to-be empty nester, becomes unexpected point of tension between two inseparable best friends and college seniors, Sam and Ari. Liz is forced to reexamine her life as the boys’ friendship unravels in a fierce competition for her affection.

Damiano Michieletto’s Italian flick Primavera spotlights on a talented violinist, Cecilia, confined in an orphanage, who meets Vivaldi who becomes her teacher. Under his mentorship and through his music, she gains courage to break free from the life she was destined for and pursue her passion.

South Koren Lee Hwan’s Project Y is a crime thriller set in Gangnam, Seoul, two women are friends and of the same age. They make an audacious plan to steal 8 billion won ($6 million) in gold bars and flee from the area.Mi Seon and Do Gyeong with no one but each other to rely on, grind away to save the money needed to leave their dangerous lifestyles behind. But just as “retirement” comes within reach, the world betrays them, shattering their hopes. On the edge of a dead end, they discover a hidden fortune of dirty cash and gold in Gangnam – and place all their bets on one final high-stakes gamble of a lifetime.

Mark Jenkin’s Rose of Nevadathe British science fiction drama tells the story of a fishing vessel that was lost at sea 30 years ago, and mysteriously reappears in the harbour of a fishing village.

Grecian Romain Gavras’ Sacrificeis a satirical comedy thriller about how a star-studded charity event turns chaotic when a radical group crashes it, seeking a mystical artifact tied to an ancient prophecy starring Salma Hayek.

Mamoru Hosoda’s Japanese feature Scarletis an anime feature about a princess who failing to avenge her father’s murder, wakes up in the “Land of the Dead.” In this world filled with madness, if she does not achieve her revenge against her nemesis and reach the “No End Place,” she will become “Void” and cease to exist. An adventure beyond imagination.

Winner of Cannes Grand Prix Prize Sentimental Value (Affeksjonsverdi) by Joachim Trier also screened at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is an intimate exploration of family, memories, and the reconciliatory power of art. The film focuses on two of the generations: father and two daughters living their life in modern Norway and dealing with the emotional baggage from their past in very different ways. After the death of their mother Sissel, the estranged sisters Nora and Agnes Borg are forced to confront their distant father Gustav, a once-famous but now almost forgotten film director who abandoned the family when the girls were still young.

The Hungarian flick Silent Friendby Ildikó Enyedi set in the botanical garden of Marburg, a medieval university town in Germany, and tells three stories connected to a tree over a period of more than 100 years from the tree’s perspective.

Screened earlier at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival the high adventure Sirātby Óliver Laxe is a sun-torn survival Bold, provocative, and complexthriller roadie about a man with his son in search of the man’s daughter and the son’s sister in North African deserts of southern Morocco. A pre-apocalyptic wilderness odysseywith a crowd of revellers in the Moroccan desert—a rave at the ends of the earthmeditative study on human connection and the power of music.

Screened earlier at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Sound of Falling( In die Sonne schauen) by Germany’s Mascha Schilinski  follows four generations of girls – connected by a farm in the Altmark. The film follows – Alma, Erika, Angelika, and Lenka—from different historical periods whose lives are subtly interconnected. Each spends their youth on the same four-sided farmstead in the Altmark region. As they move through their respective presents, traces of the past gradually emerge.

The Smashing Machineby Benny Safdie American biographical sports flick is a true story about the events surrounding mixed-martial arts and UFC champion Mark Kerr.The documentary is critically acclaimed for its sobering account of the brutal sport of early no holds barred fighting and the depths of addiction in which Kerr succumbs to and eventually overcomes.

Mona Fastvold’s British fareThe Testament of Ann Leeis a historical musical drama that examines the life and beliefs of Ann Lee, one of pre-Revolutionary America’s most seminal religious figures and founding leader of Shaker Movement, proclaimed as female Christ by her followers. Depicts her establishment of a utopian society and the Shakers’ worship through song and dance, based on real events.

The Ugly by South Korea’s Yeon Sang-ho is a mystery thriller and a haunting tale of memory and moral ambiguity, about a son’s search for truth and a past that refuses to stay buried.The film revolves around a father visually impaired since birth, but still a master craftsman. The son, filming documentary about his father,hears from police that his mother’s remains (she went missing 40 years ago) were found, with the possibility she had been murdered.

Spanish director Isabel Coixet’sThree Goodbyes (Tre Ciotole)based on the bestselling novel by Michela Murgia,follows a couple, Marta and Antonio, who split up after what seems like an trivial argument. While , Marta withdraws into herself with a sudden lack of appetite, Antonio, a rising chef, immers himself in his work.

Clint Bentley’s Train Dreamsbased on Denis Johnson’s novellais a moving and captivating portrait of Robert Grainier, logger and railroad worker, helping to expand the railways across America. Forced to spend prolonged periods of time away from his wife, Gladys, and their young daughter, he searches for meaning in America of early 20th Century struggling to make sense of his place in a rapidly changing world. 

Tuner by Daniel Roher starring Dustin Hoffman revolves round a talented piano tuner’s life turned upside down when he discovers that his meticulous skills for tuning pianos can equally be applied to cracking safes in this jazz-infused crime drama about love, loss, and the lengths we’ll go to for the people who matter most.

Uiksaringitara (Wrong Husband)by Canadian filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk speaks about how after a mysterious death, Kaujak and Sapa are separated despite being promised to each other at birth. With the help of spirit guides, efforts are made to restore harmony in this Arctic fairy tale set in an Inuit community.A shaman plays a central role in the film, as the lovers turn to him for help. The film is a historical drama set in Igloolik, Nunavut, around 2000 BCE. 

Nick Davis’You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution…the documentary describes how the local production launched the careers of Eugene Levy, Martin Short, Gilda Radner, Victor Garber, Paul Shaffer, Andrea Martin, and Dave Thomas. The film features interviews with all surviving cast members, as well as never-before-seen footage and personal archives.

Indeed a veritable fiesta of films is sumptuously bill of fare is spread a la carte for committed cinephiles to binge and gorge upon like never before. Happy feasting!

S VISWANATH is a veteran film critic who officiates as JURY at several National & International Film Festivals. He deputises as CHIEF CINEMA CURATOR/PROGRAMMER & CREATIVE ADVISOR for Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes). He also curates & advises on the selection of shorts & documentaries for Bengaluru International Short Film Festival (BISFF). Mr Viswanath is the author of “RANDOM REFLECTIONS: A Kaleidoscopic Musings on Kannada Cinema”.