The Toronto International Film Festival have unveiled the heavy-hitters populating their Gala and Special Presentations sections making what sounds like an alluring line-up for the 50th edition. Among the noteworthy world premieres that they nabbed we find Aziz Ansari’s Good Fortune, David Mackenzie‘s Fuze, Arnaud Desplechin‘s Two Pianos, Romain Gavras’ Sacrifice, David Michôd’s Christy, James Vanderbilt’s Nuremberg, and Alice Winocour’s Couture and in the same stroke we have confirmed some of the sizzle for the Venice Film Festival (line-up drops tomorrow morning). Edward Berger‘s Ballad of a Small Player, Gus Van Sant‘s Dead Man’s Wire, Mark Jenkin‘s Rose of Nevada, Benny Safdie‘s The Smashing Machine, Mona Fastvold‘s The Testament of Ann Lee and Guillermo del Toro‘s Frankenstein might all be selected for the the Golden Lion competition. Anne Émond’s Peak Everything which premiered in Cannes’ Director’s Fortnight section will be the Closing Night Gala. Tomorrow TIFF announces their Platform section. Here are the titles (* were already announced).
2025 Galas:
*A Private Life | Rebecca Zlotowski | France – North American Premiere
Adulthood | Alex Winter | USA – World Premiere
Driver’s Ed | Bobby Farrelly | USA – World Premiere
Eleanor the Great | Scarlett Johansson | USA – North American Premiere
Eternity | David Freyne | USA – World Premiere
Fuze | David Mackenzie | United Kingdom – World Premiere
Glenrothan | Brian Cox | United Kingdom – World Premiere
Good Fortune | Aziz Ansari | USA – World Premiere
*Hamnet | Chloé Zhao | United Kingdom – Canadian Premiere
*Homebound | Neeraj Ghaywan | India – North American Premiere
*John Candy: I Like Me | Colin Hanks | USA – World Premiere
Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery | Ally Pankiw | Canada – World Premiere
Nuremberg | James Vanderbilt | USA – World Premiere
Palestine 36 | Annemarie Jacir | Palestine/UK/France/Denmark/Qatar/Saudi Arabia/Jordan – World Premiere
Peak Everything | Anne Émond | Canada | Closing Night Gala – Toronto Premiere
*Roofman | Derek Cianfrance | USA – World Premiere
*She Has No Name | Peter Ho-Sun Chan | Hong Kong/China – North American Premiere
Sholay | Ramesh Sippy | India | 50th Anniversary Restoration – North American Premiere
Swiped | Rachel Lee Goldenberg | USA – World Premiere
*The Choral | Nicholas Hytner | United Kingdom – World Premiere
Two Pianos | Arnaud Desplechin | France – World Premiere
A Pale View of Hills | Kei Ishikawa | Japan/United Kingdom/Poland NAP
A Poet | Simón Mesa Soto | Colombia/Germany/Sweden NAP
Bad Apples | Jonatan Etzler | United Kingdom – World Premiere
Ballad of a Small Player | Edward Berger | United Kingdom – Canadian Premiere
California Schemin’ | James McAvoy | United Kingdom/USA – World Premiere
Calle Malaga | Maryam Touzani | Morocco/France/Spain/Germany/Belgium NAP
Charlie Harper | Tom Dean, Mac Eldridge | USA – World Premiere
Christy | David Michôd | USA – World Premiere
Couture | Alice Winocour | USA/France – World Premiere
Dead Man’s Wire | Gus Van Sant | USA – North American Premiere
Degrassi: Whatever It Takes | Lisa Rideout | Canada – World Premiere
Easy’s Waltz | Nic Pizzolatto | USA – World Premiere
EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert | Baz Luhrmann | Australia/USA – World Premiere
Eternal Return | Yaniv Raz | United Kingdom/USA – World Premiere
Frankenstein | Guillermo del Toro | USA – North American Premiere
*Franz | Agnieszka Holland | Czech Republic/Germany/Poland – World Premiere
*Good News | Byun Sung-hyun | South Korea – World Premiere
*Hedda | Nia DaCosta | USA World Premiere
It Was Just an Accident | Jafar Panahi | Iran/France/Luxembourg – Canadian Premiere
It Would Be Night in Caracas | Mariana Rondón, Marité Ugás | Mexico – World Premiere
Kokuho | Lee Sang-il | Japan – North American Premiere
Ky Nam Inn | Leon Le | Vietnam – World Premiere
Lovely Day | Philippe Falardeau | Canada – World Premiere
Meadowlarks | Tasha Hubbard | Canada – World Premiere
*Mile End Kicks | Chandler Levack | Canada – World Premiere
Monkey in a Cage | Anurag Kashyap | India – World Premiere
Nouvelle Vague | Richard Linklater | France – Canadian Premiere
Poetic License | Maude Apatow | USA – World Premiere
Primavera | Damiano Michieletto | Italy/France – World Premiere
Project Y | Lee Hwan | South Korea – World Premiere
*Rental Family | HIKARI | USA/Japan – World Premiere
Rose of Nevada | Mark Jenkin | United Kingdom – North American Premiere
Sacrifice | Romain Gavras | United Kingdom/Greece – World Premiere
Scarlet | Mamoru Hosoda | Japan – North American Premiere
Sentimental Value | Joachim Trier | Norway/France/Denmark/Germany/Sweden/UK – Canadian Premiere
Silent Friend | Ildikó Enyedi | Germany/Hungary/France – North American Premiere
Sirāt | Óliver Laxe | France/Spain – North American Premiere
Sound of Falling | Mascha Schilinski | Germany – North American Premiere
*Steal Away | Clement Virgo | Canada/Belgium – World Premiere
*The Captive | Alejandro Amenábar | Spain/Italy – World Premiere
*The Christophers | Steven Soderbergh | United Kingdom – World Premiere
*The Lost Bus | Paul Greengrass | USA – World Premiere
The Secret Agent | Kleber Mendonça Filho | Brazil/France/Netherlands/Germany – Canadian Premiere
The Smashing Machine | Benny Safdie | USA – North American Premiere
The Testament of Ann Lee | Mona Fastvold | UK – North American Premiere | Presented in 70mm
The Ugly | Yeon Sang-ho | South Korea – World Premiere
Three Goodbyes | Isabel Coixet | Italy/Spain – World Premiere
Train Dreams | Clint Bentley | USA – International Premiere
Tuner | Daniel Roher | USA – Canadian Premiere
Uiksaringitara (Wrong Husband) | Zacharias Kunuk | Canada – North American Premiere
*Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery | Rian Johnson | USA – World Premiere
You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution… | Nick Davis | USA – World Premiere