Milestone 50^th Toronto International Film Festival kicks off from September 4-14, 2025 “Transforming the way peoplesee the world through film.”

S Viswanath

Toronto International Film Festival – TIFF – has hit half a century in cricket lingo. Yes, TIFF is into its milestone 50^th edition gearing up to host and toast the gala event come September in a big blast way. The 50^th edition of TIFF will wow cinephiles of world, and who’s who of media and entertainment business, from September 4 to 14, 2025, as TIFF Lightbox, epicentre of film festival activity revs up to charm the hoi polloi of movie marquee with choicest of crème la crème cinemas.

In the run up to D-day TIFF, as has been the practice and tradition with film festivals, announced scroll of world premieres of five of its official selections, as also 11 more in its Gala and Special Presentations programmes. Among the first wave of world premieres from its official selection basket that TIFF has formally put out marquee names such as Alejandro Amenábar’s The Captive, Steven Soderbergh’s The Christophers, Sung-hyun Byun’s Good News, Nia DaCosta’s Hedda, and Chandler Levack’s Mile End Kicks.

These quintet of films hail from home base Canada, Spain, Italy, South Korea, the UK and the US. These are featured under the TIFF’s Special Presentations Section which showcases highly anticipated works from around the globe, often featuring strong artistic merit and broad audience appeal.

The festivities of 50^th Edition of TIFF, presented by principal sponsor Canada’s premier communications & media conglomerate – Rogers Communications Inc, will be kicked off with the screening of the documentary on the late comedian John Candy entitled John Candy: I Like Me by Colin Hanks as the Opening Night Film. The documentary being screened at Roy Thomson Hall is a heartfelt tribute to legendary Canadian icon, that teems with tales and reminiscences from Candy’s kin, closest chums, and longtime collaborators.

Director Colin Hanks and the film’s producer Ryan Reynolds effusively eulogised “when you hear the name John Candy, your face lights up. He wasn’t just a great actor; he was an even better person. People loved his everyman qualities, but they didn’t know how relatable John really was. He went through the same struggles we all do, except now we talk about them. We are incredibly honoured to have gotten to know the man better through this process and to bring the real John Candy to audiences starting with his hometown of Toronto.”

The documentary charts the chequered career and the person on John Candy’s on- and off-camera existence, featuring never-before-seen home videos, intimate access to his family, and candid recollections from collaborators that provide a bigger picture of one of brightest stars of’70s, ’80s and ’90s. It’s the sentimental saga of a son, husband, father, friend, and professional driven to bring joy to audiences and loved ones while battling personal ghosts and Hollywood pressures.

The festoon of 11 more films in the Gala and Special Presentations programmesinclude Nicholas Hytner’s The Choral,Agnieszka Holland’s Franz,Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet, Neeraj Ghaywan’s Homebound, Paul Greengrass’ The Lost Bus, Rebecca Zlotowski’s A Private Life,Hikai’ss Rental Family,Derek Cianfrance’s Roofman,Peter Ho-Sun Chan’s She Has No Name, Clement Virgo’s Steal Away, and Rian Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery which span multiple continents and storytelling traditions, epitomising TIFF’S global reach and curatorial inclusivity.

So without much ado let’s see what TIFF’s up to in the last few months to make TIFF @ 50 a memorable and mega cinema carnival as September nears and all destinations lead to Toronto the final port of call for eleven days of cinema bingeing as Toronto’s Entertainment District which houses the TIFF Bell Lightbox on Reitman Square 350 King Street West Toronto, Ontario M5Vturns Genie waves the magic wand to unspool mesmerising movies for cine aficionados congregating from world over.  

Meanwhile the five films are a mixed medley of historical epic, black comedy, an adrenaline thriller, adaptation of a Norwegian play, and a mushy musical romcom, curated to engage, entertain and educate audiences on what’s u[ on the contemporary cinema scene across the movie coliseum.

The ambitious historical epic drama by Chilean-Spanish filmmaker, Academy & Goya Awards winner Alejandro AmenábarThe Captive (El cautivo) brings on to the big screen the life and times of the legendary Spanish  novelist, playwright, and poetMiguel de Cervantesthe author of the literary classic novel Don Quixotehailed as the first model novel.

Taking audiences back in time to Circa 1575 to Algiers where the Moors / the Ottoman Corsairs capture the young 28 year old wounded navy soldier Miguel de Cervantes, who in the course of very many attempts to flee from captivity hones his skills for storytelling.

After being bartered to the fearsome Hassan, Baja of Alger, young Miguel, while awaiting the ransom amount, and faced with a ticking clock, which portends a cruel death should his fellow countrymen fail to pay his ransom soon, within the confines of his celldiscovers his gift of gab for storytelling to have his fellow mates in a thrall while surreptitiously conjuring a daring plan to effect his flight from the dungeons. His adventurous tales crafted from resilience and hopecapture the attention of Hasan, the enigmatic and feared Bey of Algiers, igniting an affinity between captor and captive.

Recepient of the prestigious Cannes Film Festival’s highest honour Palme d’Or at a young age of just 26 for his 1989 film Sex, Lies, and Videotape, American filmmaker Steven Soderbergh’s The Christopherswhich makes its world premiere at TIFF is billed as a black comedy. Itrevolves round a group of estranged children of a well-known artist who engage the services of a forger to finish the artist’s long abandoned incomplete paintings to sell themso they’ll have an inheritance to claims upon when he eventually dies.

Set in the 1970s South Korea’s Sung-hyun Byun’s Good Newscentres on a suspicious secret operation to land a hijacked airplane bringing together a group of people with hidden agendas by any means necessary.Taking part in the operation is a problem solver, with unknown identity, who appears when needed to solve cases. Also taking part are an Air Force First Lieutenant and government official who commands the secret operation.

Incidentally, Good News marks the third time director Byun, famed for his stylish direction and gripping storytelling, bringing a new level of tension and psychological intrigue into his works, has been invited to a major international film festival, following “The Merciless” at Cannes in 2017 and “Kill Bok Soon” at Berlin in 2023. The film explores the complexities and moral ambiguities of the operation, with each character playing a crucial role in the unfolding events.

Brooklyn born Black American female director Nia DaCosta’s Heddareimagines Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen’s 1891 play ‘Hedda Gabler’ with a modern adaptationwith a contemporary lens, focusing on emotional repression, identity, and power.The eponymous film focuses on Hedda Tesman, trapped in a loveless marriage, who desires a life her husband cannot provide and is stifled by societal norms. When a former lover returns, her life becomes chaotic, resulting in manipulation, betrayal, and passion over one night, and destructive actions. As secrets unravel, it explores themes of power, gender roles, and tragic consequences of societal expectations in the late 19th Century with the woman caught between weight of her past and suffocation of her present.

With Montrel’s Mile End neighbourhood as its site of its romcom action and vibrant music scene birthed the rise of artists like Arcade Fire, Grimes, Mac DeMarco and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Canadian writer-director Chandler Levack’s Mile End Kicksspins a triangular romcom, while focusing on the indie music scene in 2011.

Heading to Montreal, 24-yr-old Grace Pine, music critic,plans to write a book about Alanis Morissette’s album Jagged Little Pill. take an unexpected turn when she becomes romantically involved with two members of a struggling indie band. She decides to become their publicist, while grappling with her romantic obsession and finding her voice as a writer.

The Choral by British director Nicholas Hytner is about a choral society’s male members who enlist in World War I, while requesting Dr Guthrie to recruit teenagers. Together, they experience the joy of singing while the young boys grapple with their impending conscription into the army.

The Indian feature Homebound  by Neeraj Ghaywanspotlights on two childhood friends from a small village in North India dreaming of becoming police officers, hoping it will bring them the respect they never had. However, as they come closer to their goal, pressure and struggles create problems in their friendship.

Chinese born British filmmaker Chloe Zhao of Nomadland (2020) fame presents her latest feature Hamnet, which, based on O’Farrell’s novel, presents a fictional fable about the life of the Bard of Avon William Shakespeare and his wife Agnes, following the death of Hamnet, their 11-year-old son, 

Rebecca Myriam Clara Zlotowski, French filmmaker of Polish-Moroccan descent showcases her black comedy mystery thriller A Private Life (Vie privée) featuringAmerican actress Jodie Foster which revolves round renowned psychiatrist Lilian Steiner who mounts a private investigation into the death of one of her patients, whom she is convinced has been murdered.

American director presents his Roofman inspired by real life incidents is a biopic of the fugitive Jeffrey Manchester, a former US Army Reserve officer, infamously known as Roofman due to his propensity to steal from branches of McDonald’s after entering their premises via the roof and evading the police net hiding in the wall of a Toys R Us store.

Hong Kong filmmaker Peter Ho-Sun Chan’s Chinese film She’sGot No Name (Jiang Yuan Long · Xuan an) featured under TIFF’s Special Presentation Section is a 2024 crime drama based on a true story of an unsolved murder case in Shanghai and later adapted into the non-fiction novel Reversal of the Case by Jiang Feng, which follows a housewife who is accused of gruesome murder of her husband.

Set in a bustling alleyway during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai in the 1940s, the film centres on a wife, Zhan Zhou, who was being charged with the bloody dismemberment of her husband – a killing that seems impossible for her to have committed alone. The murder thrusts Zhan into the spotlight and the court of public opinion, forcing her towards a fate intertwined with that of her own country.

Polish director Agnieszka Holland’s Franz is a biographical film based on a story by Epstein and Mike Downey about renowned Czech writer and novelist Franz Kafka  which follows his life of the literary giant from early teens in his hometown of Prague to his premature death in 1924.

British film director Paul Greengrass’ The Lost Bus is an American survival drama based on the book Paradise: One Town’s Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire by Lizzie Johnson. It charts the courses of a bus driver navigating a bus carrying children and their teacher to safety through the 2018 Camp Fire, the deadliest in California history.

TheAmerican film Rental Family by Japanese woman director Hikari (nee Mitsuyo Miyazaki) is a comedy drama featuring American-Canadian actor Brendan James Fraser revolves around Japanese rental company which hires struggling American actor in Tokyo and who plays various roles in clients’ lives, embarking on an introspective journey through these unlikely experiences.

Canada’s foremost director Clement Virgo’s Steal Away based on Canadian historian Karolyn Smardz Frost’s non-fiction book Steal Away Homespotlights on a naïve teenager in Belgium Fanny, who forms an intense bond with a refugee Cecile taken in by her family. As their obsessive relationship deepens, she becomes enamoured with the refugee’s lifestyle, leading to desire, jealousy, which shatters her illusions about the world.

The American mystery thriller Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery by Rian Johnson  is a standalone sequel to the 2022 Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mysteryand third instalment in the Knives Out film series. It stars Daniel Craig who reprises the role of master detective Benoit Blanc solving another serious case. 

Well, with more to follow suit besides Galas & Special Presentations in specifically curated Platform, Discovery, Midnight Madness, Centrepiece SectionsTIFF promises a veritable sumptuous smorgasbord of al la carte filmi buffet for avowed and itinerant cinephiles who travel across continents to mark their attendance at TIFF and feast on the movies gourmet with great relish and fanfare.

Here’s wishing Nun, hier ist ein Toast auf TIFF und ich wünsche allen einen guten Appetit, während sie in das faszinierende Universum der Filme eintauchen / Eh bien, voici un toast au TIFF et je souhaite à tous un bon appétit alors qu’ils se plongent dans l’univers fascinant du cinéma. Vive la Cinéma ! Es lebe das Kino! Long Live The Cinema!

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”.