As the fall festivals begin to roll out their lineups (a phrase you’ll be seeing a lot of on IndieWire in the coming days), a word of both caution and delight: don’t forget about the festival films that have already premiered elsewhere, from Sundance to Cannes. The Toronto International Film Festival certainly has not, as today’s full lineup of Gala and Special Presentations includes plenty of previously-premiered films that are already ranking among the year’s best.
We’re talking Sundance standouts like Mary Bronstein’s “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” and Clint Bentley’s “Train Dreams,” plus Cannes hits likes Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value,” Mascha Schilinski’s “Sound of Falling,” Jafar Panahi’s “It Was Just an Accident,” Richard Linklater’s “Nouvelle Vague,” and Óliver Laxe’s “Sirāt.”
And today’s announcement also includes world premieres like Aziz Ansari’s “Good Fortune,” Maude Apatow’s “Poetic License,” Isabel Coixet’s “Three Goodbyes,” Romain Gavras’ “Sacrifice,” David Michôd’s Sydney Sweeney-starring “Christy,” Yeon Sang-ho’s “The Ugly,” James Vanderbilt’s “Nuremberg,” and Alice Winocour’s “Couture,” as well as new films from Guillermo del Toro, Mamoru Hosoda, Zacharias Kunuk, Baz Luhrmann, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Benny Safdie, and Gus Van Sant.
Over the past few weeks, TIFF has rolled out some early picks for its selection, including Colin Hanks’ opening night documentary “John Candy: I Like Me,” plus new films from Steven Soderbergh, Nia DaCosta, Chandler Levack, Alejandro Amenábar, and Sung-hyun Byun, and the addition of 11 starry titles in the Gala and Special Presentations program just last week.
The festival has also today announced that Canadian director Anne Émond’s “Peak Everything” will be this year’s Closing Night Gala, taking place on the last evening of the Festival, Saturday, September 13. The film premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, where our own David Ehrlich called it “a light comedy about the end of the world.”
This year, the festival has invited films from over 30 countries that, per today’s announcement, “showcase bold storytelling, global perspectives, and the power of film to connect audiences across cultures.”
Check out the full listing of this year’s Galas and Special Presentations, including both older announcements and today’s additions below:
2025 Galas (in alphabetical order):
*previously announced
*“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 | Gala Presentation
*“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/United Kingdom/France/Denmark/Qatar/Saudi Arabia/Jordan | World Premiere
“Peak Everything” | Anne Émond | Canada | Toronto Premiere | Closing Night Gala
*“Roofman” | Derek Cianfrance | USA | World Premiere
*“She Has No Name” | Peter Ho-Sun Chan | Hong Kong/China | North American Premiere
“Sholay” | Ramesh Sippy | India | North American Premiere | 50th Anniversary Restoration
“Swiped” | Rachel Lee Goldenberg | USA | World Premiere
*“The Choral” | Nicholas Hytner | United Kingdom | World Premiere
“Two Pianos” | Arnaud Desplechin | France | World Premiere
2025 Special Presentations (in alphabetical order):
*previously announced
*“A Pale View of Hills” | Kei Ishikawa | Japan/United Kingdom/Poland | North American Premiere | Special Presentation
“A Poet” | Simón Mesa Soto | Colombia/Germany/Sweden | North American Premiere | Special Presentation
“Bad Apples” | Jonatan Etzler | United Kingdom | World Premiere | Special Presentation
“Ballad of a Small Player” | Edward Berger | United Kingdom | Canadian Premiere | Special Presentation
“California Schemin’” | James McAvoy | United Kingdom/USA | World Premiere | Special Presentation
“Calle Malaga” | Maryam Touzani | Morocco/France/Spain/Germany/Belgium | North American Premiere | Special Presentation
“Charlie Harper” | Tom Dean, Mac Eldridge | USA | World Premiere | Special Presentation
“Christy” | David Michôd | USA | World Premiere | Special Presentation
“Couture” | Alice Winocour | USA/France | World Premiere | Special Presentation
“Dead Man’s Wire” | Gus Van Sant | USA | North American Premiere | Special Presentation
“Degrassi: Whatever It Takes” | Lisa Rideout | Canada | World Premiere | Special Presentation
“Easy’s Waltz” | Nic Pizzolatto | USA | World Premiere | Special Presentation
“EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert” | Baz Luhrmann | Australia/USA | World Premiere | Special Presentation
“Eternal Return” | Yaniv Raz | United Kingdom/USA | World Premiere | Special Presentation
“Frankenstein” | Guillermo del Toro | USA | North American Premiere | Special Presentation
*“Franz” | Agnieszka Holland | Czech Republic/Germany/Poland | World Premiere | Special Presentation
*“Good News” | Byun Sung-hyun | South Korea | World Premiere | Special Presentation
*“Hedda” | Nia DaCosta | USA | World Premiere | Special Presentation
“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” | Mary Bronstein | USA | Canadian Premiere | Special Presentation
“It Was Just an Accident” | Jafar Panahi | Iran/France/Luxembourg | Canadian Premiere | Special Presentation
“It Would Be Night in Caracas” | Mariana Rondón, Marité Ugás | Mexico | World Premiere | Special Presentation
“Kokuho” | Lee Sang-il | Japan | North American Premiere | Special Presentation
“Ky Nam Inn” | Leon Le | Vietnam | World Premiere | Special Presentation
“Lovely Day” | Philippe Falardeau | Canada | World Premiere | Special Presentation
“Meadowlarks” | Tasha Hubbard | Canada | World Premiere | Special Presentation
*“Mile End Kicks” | Chandler Levack | Canada | World Premiere | Special Presentation
“Monkey in a Cage” | Anurag Kashyap | India | World Premiere | Special Presentation
“Nouvelle Vague” | Richard Linklater | France | Canadian Premiere | Special Presentation
“Poetic License” | Maude Apatow | USA | World Premiere | Special Presentation
“Primavera” | Damiano Michieletto | Italy/France | World Premiere | Special Presentation
“Project Y” | Lee Hwan | South Korea | World Premiere | Special Presentation
*“Rental Family” | HIKARI | USA/Japan | World Premiere | Special Presentation
“Rose of Nevada” | Mark Jenkin | United Kingdom | North American Premiere | Special Presentation
“Sacrifice” | Romain Gavras | United Kingdom/Greece | World Premiere | Special Presentation
“Scarlet” | Mamoru Hosoda | Japan | North American Premiere | Special Presentation
“Sentimental Value” | Joachim Trier | Norway/France/Denmark/Germany/Sweden/United Kingdom | Canadian Premiere | Special Presentation
“Silent Friend” | Ildikó Enyedi | Germany/Hungary/France | North American Premiere | Special Presentation
“Sirāt” | Óliver Laxe | France/Spain | North American Premiere | Special Presentation
“Sound of Falling” | Mascha Schilinski | Germany | North American Premiere | Special Presentation
*“Steal Away” | Clement Virgo | Canada/Belgium | World Premiere | Special Presentation
*“The Captive” | Alejandro Amenábar | Spain/Italy | World Premiere | Special Presentation
*“The Christophers” | Steven Soderbergh | United Kingdom | World Premiere | Special Presentation
*“The Lost Bus” | Paul Greengrass | USA | World Premiere | Special Presentation
“The Secret Agent” | Kleber Mendonça Filho | Brazil/France/Netherlands/Germany | Canadian Premiere | Special Presentation
“The Smashing Machine” | Benny Safdie | USA | North American Premiere | Special Presentation
“The Testament of Ann Lee” | Mona Fastvold | United Kingdom | North American Premiere | Presented in 70mm | Special Presentation
“The Ugly” | Yeon Sang-ho | South Korea | World Premiere | Special Presentation
“Three Goodbyes” | Isabel Coixet | Italy/Spain | World Premiere | Special Presentation
“Train Dreams” | Clint Bentley | USA | International Premiere | Special Presentation
“Tuner” | Daniel Roher | USA | Canadian Premiere | Special Presentation
“Uiksaringitara (Wrong Husband)” | Zacharias Kunuk | Canada | North American Premiere | Special Presentation
*“Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” | Rian Johnson | USA | World Premiere | Special Presentation
“You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution…” | Nick Davis | USA | World Premiere | Special Presentation
This year’s official screening venues will once again include TIFF Lightbox, Roy Thomson Hall, the Visa Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre, Cineplex’s Scotiabank Theatre Toronto, Glenn Gould Studio at the Canadian Broadcast Centre, Cinema Park at David Pecaut Square, and the Royal Alexandra Theatre. The seventh edition of the TIFF Tribute Awards Gala will take place on Sunday, September 7, 2025, at Fairmont Royal York Hotel.
On the last day of the festival, TIFF announces the winners of its various awards. Alongside the popular People’s Choice Awards, presented by Rogers, this September introduces the brand-new International People’s Choice Award. Also returning are the esteemed Jury Prizes including the Platform Award, now celebrating its tenth year, and honors from FIPRESCI and NETPAC.
The 50th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, presented by Rogers, runs September 4–14, 2025. More festival details will be shared in the coming weeks, with this week set to play home to some major other announcements.
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