The TIFF Film Festival unveiled its full lineup of Centrepiece and Docs today.
Normally, when you see lineups, they are long lists. What we have done is broken it up into categories:
Cover Story that breaks down the top world premieres in these sections.
TIFF Industry News, which breaks out top distributors.
TIFF Actor Spotlight, highlighting the top talent at the festival.
TIFF Doc Filmmaker Spotlight, highlighting the most unique docs at the festival.
TIFF Indie Filmmaker Spotlight, showcasing first and second-time filmmakers.
TIFF International News, showing the top international filmmakers.
TIFF Wavelengths, best of international cinema from early-stage directors.
TIFF Primetime, top TV shows at the festival.
TIFF Final Additions, don’t skip out on these!
If you know anyone that we mention, we’d appreciate you forwarding it to them.
Below is the full breakdown:
TIFF 2025 Centrepiece and Docs include films directed by Richard Linklater, Kirk Jones, Christian Petzold, Ben Proudfoot, Shu Qi, Raoul Peck, Jimmy Chin, and László Nemes.
This adds to the Special Presentations and Galas films directed by Guillermo del Toro, Steven Soderbergh, Derek Cianfrance, Gus Van Sant, Brian Cox, Aziz Ansari, and David Mackenzie. For that full breakdown, click here: https://theindustry.co/p/the-tiff-2025-lineup
Here are the highest profile projects world premiering at TIFF Centrepiece and Docs this year:
Dir/Co-Writer/Prod/DP/Editor: Peter Ohs
Co-Writer/Producer/Star: Charli xcx
Domestic Sales: CAA
International sales: Magnify (Veni Vidi Vici, Christmas Eve at Miller’s Point)
Synopsis:
The combustible chemistry between a Polish florist and a British tourist (xcx) in this charming postcard of sapphic synchronicity.
Peter Ohs has been building his filmography quietly. He was the co-writer, editor, producer, and director of the recent SXSW horror film, The True Beauty of Being Bit By a Tick, which has a very unsettling trailer. It features, among other things, bugs having sex. Ohs previously directed an early Julia Garner film, Everything Beautiful Is Far Away (2017).
Dir: Jan Komasa (Corpus Christi)
Cast: Stephen Graham, Andrea Riseborough
Synopsis:
A 19-year-old criminal, Tommy, is kidnapped and forced into a rehabilitation process by a dysfunctional couple, Chris and Kathryn, who try to make him a "good boy." Tommy must find a way to escape.
Graham and Riseborough as a dysfunctional couple is a brilliant cast. They’ve each played similar roles, with Graham as the aching father thrown off balance in Netflix’s Adolescence to Riseborough as the drunk drifter with a whole lot of heart in To Leslie.
Dir: Kirk Jones (Waking Ned Devine)
Synopsis:
True life story of John Davidson. Diagnosed with Tourette's at 15, targeted as insane by his peers, he struggled with a condition few had witnessed. Campaigning for Tourette's as an adult, he accepted his MBE from the Queen in 2019.
Jones hasn’t directed a feature since My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (2016), so it’s time for a comeback. His stellar debut, Waking Ned Devine (1998), pushed him into studio features that were lighter-hearted or more fantasy-based (Universal’s Nanny McPhee, Lionsgate’s What to Expect When You're Expecting). His new one seems perfect for Jones. Heavier material that he can spin into something euphoric and profound.
The Eyes of Ghana
Dir: Ben Proudfoot (Two-time short doc Oscar winner for The Last Repair Shop, A Concerto Is a Conversation)
EP: The Obamas’ Higher Ground
Synopsis:
A look through the life and work of Ghanaian documentarian Chris Hesse, who captured the rise and fall of Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah.
We’re into whatever Proudfoot is working on. His The Last Repair Shop (2024, Full short) tracks the last instrument repair shop for school kids in LA. It mixes emotionally broken people with physically broken instruments into a cinematic symphony that is intimate and sweeping.
TIFF’s Centrepiece and Docs section also spotlight some of the best films at festivals this year. Including 41 films that premiered at other festivals. 20 at Cannes, 12 at Venice, 6 at Berlin, and 3 at Locarno.
Full breakdown:
Cannes Films:
Eagles of the Republic (Official Selection)
Dir: Tarik Saleh
Renoir (Official Selection)
Dir: Chie Hayakawa (2nd feature, her first feature, Plan 75, played in Un Certain Regard in 2022, where it won the Caméra d'Or Special Distinction.)
The Little Sister (Official Selection)
Dir: Hafsia Herzi
Two Prosecutors (Official Selection)
Dir: Sergei Loznitsa
Distributor: Janus Films
My Father’s Shadow (Un Certain Regard)
Special Mention for the Caméra d'Or
Dir: Akinola Davies Jr.
Prod Co: BBC Films
Distributor: Mubi
The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo (Un Certain Regard)
Dir/Wri: Diego Céspedes
The Last One for the Road (Un Certain Regard)
Dir: Francesco Sossai
Exit 8 (Midnight)
Distributor: Neon
The President’s Cake (Director’s Fortnight)
Dir: Hasan Hadi
Winner: Camera d’Or, Audience Award
Miroirs No.3 (Director’s Fortnight)
Dir: Christian Petzold (Barbara),
Metograph was originally going to distribute this, but it has changed hands.
The Love that Remains (Premiere Section)
Distributor: Janus Films
Orwell: 2+2=5
Dir: Raoul Peck
Distributor: Neon
A Useful Ghost (Critics Week)
Dir: Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke
Distributor: Cineverse (Terrifier 3)
Left-Handed Girl (Critics Week)
Co-Wri: Sean Baker
Distributor: Netflix
Lucky Lu (Director’s Fortnight)
Lloyd Lee Choi
Mama (Special Screening)
Dir: Or Sinai
Arco (Special Screening, Animation)
Prod: Natalie Portman
Producer Sophie Mas voices the main character’s mother
Distributor: Neon
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain (Special Screening, Animation)
Distributor: GKIDS
Dandelion's Odyssey (Critics Week)
Dir: Momoko Seto
Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk (Acid Cannes)
Dir: Sepideh Farsi
Venice:
Orphan (Official Selection)
Dir/Wri: László Nemes (Son of Saul)
Duse (Official Selection)
Cast: Noémie Merlant
Dir: Pietro Marcello (dir: Martin Eden won TIFF’s 2019 Platform prize)
Girl (Official Selection)
Dir: Shu Qi (actress: Transporter)
The Sun Rises On Us All (Official Selection)
Dir: Cai Shangjun Cai
Below the Clouds (Official Selection)
Dir: Gianfranco Rosi (won the top prize in Venice for Sacro GRA (2013) & the top prize in Berlin for Fire at Sea (2016)
Trailer (Doc)
The Last Viking (out of competition)
Cast: Mads Mikkelsen (in a comedy)
Dir: Anders Thomas Jensen (Riders of Justice starring Mikkelsen)
Cover-Up (out of competition)
Dir: Laura Poitras (All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, the 2nd doc ever to win the top prize at Venice), Mark Obenhaus
Nuestra Tierra (out of competition)
Dir: Lucrecia Martel, twice nominated for the Palme d’Or (The Headless Woman, The Holy Girl)
Barrio Triste (Orizzonti)
Dir: Stillz (Bad Bunny Music Video Director)
Milk Teeth (Orizzonti)
Dir: Mihai Mincan
Sales Rep: Cercamon (sales rep: Film Movement’s The Sparrow in the Chimney)
Motor City (Spotlight)
Dir: Potsy Ponciroli
Cast: Alan Ritchson, Shailene Woodley, Ben Foster, Pablo Schreiber
Memory of Princess Mumbi (Sidebar)
Berline:
Blue Moon (In Competition)
Dir: Richard Linklater
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
The Blue Trail (In Competition)
Dir: Gabriel Mascaro
Winner: Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize
Honey Bunch (Special program)
Dir: Dusty Mancinelli, Madeleine Sims-Fewer
Distributor: Shudder
Olmo (Panorama)
Dir: Fernando Eimbcke
Space Cadet (Generation Kplus)
Dir: Kid Koala
The Tale of Silyan (Out of Competition)
Dir: Tamara Kotevska
Sales Rep: Dogwoof
Locarno
Blue Heron
Dir: Sophy Romvari
Follies
Dir: Éric K. Boulianne
Irkalla: Gilgamesh's Dream
Dir: Mohamed Jabarah Al-Daradji
Sales Rep: MPM Premium (Sundance’s Cactus Pears)
TIFF Centerpiece programmer stated that the lineup this year had:
“Really great arthouse dramas, thrillers. I got a hockey movie. I got a sex comedy... One thing that really connects these movies as different as they may seem, is that they really are personal stories and you can really feel that in the work.”
Congrats to all the filmmakers.
THE TIFF INDUSTRY NEWS
Both indie and studio distributors came out in force.
Sony Pictures Classics - 2 film in Centerpiece (1 world premiere)
Blue Moon
Dir: Richard Linklater
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale, Andrew Scott
Unidentified
Dir: Haifaa Al-Mansour (Wadjda, Mary Shelley starring Elle Fanning)
Synopsis:
A grieving mother, fueled by her passion for true crime, seeks answers when a teenage girl is found dead in the desert and the police investigation stalls.
Lionsgate (UK/Ireland) - 1 film in Centerpiece
Wasteman
Cast: David Jonsson (Alien: Romulus)
Synopsis:
Follows parolee Taylor whose fresh start hopes are jeopardized by cellmate Dee's arrival. As Dee takes Taylor under his wing, a vicious attack tests their bond, forcing Taylor to choose between protecting Dee and his own parole chances.
Cineverse - 1 film
A Useful Ghost
Premiere: Cannes Critics Week (Grand Prix winner)
Synopsis:
After dying from a respiratory disease, a mother's spirit possesses a vacuum cleaner to protect her husband when he begins showing the same symptoms.
Netflix - 1 film
Left-Handed Girl
Co-Wri: Sean Baker
Premiere: Cannes Critics Week
Synopsis:
A single mother and her two daughters relocate to Taipei to open a night market stall, each navigating the challenges of adapting to their new environment while striving to maintain family unity.
Neon - 3 films
Arco
Premiere: Cannes Special Screening
Prod: Natalie Portman
Trailer - Animation
Exit 8
Premiere: Cannes Midnight
Orwell: 2+2=5
Dir: Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro)
Synopsis:
The ultimate and comprehensive documentary film about the exceptional writer George Orwell.
Mubi - 1 film
My Father’s Shadow (Un Certain Regard)
Special Mention for the Caméra d'Or
Dir: Akinola Davies Jr.
Prod Co: BBC Films
Distributor: Mubi
Synopsis:
Two young brothers explore Lagos with their estranged father during the 1993 Nigerian election crisis, witnessing both the city's magnitude and their father's daily struggles as political unrest threatens their journey home.
Janus Films - 2 films
The Love That Remains
Synopsis:
Captures a year in the life of a family as the parents navigate their separation. Through intimate vignettes and strange occurrences, the film explores the complexities of family, love, and the impact of shared memories.
Two Prosecutors
Premiere: Cannes
Synopsis:
1937: When a prisoner's letter escapes destruction, idealistic prosecutor Kornev uncovers NKVD corruption. His pursuit of justice in Stalin's USSR becomes a dangerous journey into the heart of a system devouring its own.
Here is a clip.
Focus Features picked up international rights for Hamlet, starring Riz Ahmed, set for its Canadian Premiere. But Focus acquired the film last May, and the status may have changed. We’ll update this with more info.
TIFF ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Riz Ahmed plays Hamlet. In this re-invention of Hamlet, set in modern-day London’s South Asian community.
I couldn’t think of better casting. Robert McKee (author: Story) described Hamlet as the most complex character ever written:
“Hamlet isn't three-dimensional, but ten, twelve, virtually uncountably dimensional. He seems spiritual until he's blasphemous. To Ophelia he's first loving and tender, then callous, even sadistic.”
McKee continued:
“He's courageous, then cowardly. At times he's cool and cautious, then impulsive and rash, as he stabs someone hiding behind a curtain without knowing who's there. Hamlet is ruthless and compas-sionate, proud and self-pitying, witty and sad, weary and dynamic, lucid and confused, sane and mad. His is an innocent worldliness, a worldly innocence, a living contradiction of almost any human qualities we could imagine.”
Ahmed has all these dimensions inside him from his performance in Relay to Sound of Metal to The Night Of.
We can’t wait to see this.
Live Nations Productions pulled a stacked cast for New Year’s Rev. McKenna Grace, Jenna Fischer, and Fred Armisen star in this music comedy.
Synopsis:
Three buddies drive cross-country in a van, causing mayhem and mischief while racing to LA for their big break: opening for Green Day on New Year's Eve.
It’s easy to imagine Fischer and Armisen going fan girl/boy crazy. Mania is Armisen’s default.
Also, Green Day is going to be in the film as Billie Joe Armstrong, lead vocalist/co-founder of Green Day is a producer.
We’ve been waiting for a standout Samara Weaving performance. She broke out playing the 19-year-old girl John Hawkes leaves his wife (Franis McDormand) for in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (clip). It was a sparse but hilariously ditzy performance.
Recently, she’s been packing more punch. She will lead Carolina Caroline.
Synopsis:
A young woman joins a charming con man on the run, leaving a trail of crime and passion as they hustle through the Southeast in search of her estranged mother.
It shares DNA with Weaving’s Ready or Not, where she had to kill her way out of her fiancé’s house.
Steve Coogan excels at getting into rifts. He stars in Saipan.
Synopsis:
On the eve of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the Irish captain Roy Keane forfeits his place in the squad at the team's preparation base in Saipan, following a heated disagreement with the Irish manager Mick McCarthy (Coogan).
Coogan has a laissez-faire attitude that just riles everyone around him up. But he has his own hysteria (Alan Partridge, trailer). temper
From filmmakers Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D’Sa.
Whitetail, from Dutch filmmaker Nanouk Leopold, is a slow-burn thriller with what TIFF has called a “haunting performance from Natasha O’Keeffe (Peaky Blinders).”
Synopsis:
Jen has carried the guilt of a tragic accident since her teens - now, the past catches up, forcing her to find a way forward.
TIFF DOC FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
How do you make Grass growing interesting? You make it ancient, primordial, philosophical, bridging species, territories, and regions of time. That’s the work Peter Mettier is doing in the world premiere of his While the Green Grass Grows: A Diary in Seven Parts. Pieces of this have played around festivals for years, but this is the full thing in its glorious 450-minute run time.
Here’s a taste of a question asked in the film:
“If you ask a cloud ‘how old are you?’ You can listen deeply and you may hear a reply.”
Heavy shades of Koyaanisqatsi in this one. Trailer.
Oscar-winning directors are E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin (Free Solo, Nyad) are world premiering LOVE+WAR.
Synopsis:
Follow photographer Lynsey Addario capturing the Ukraine war while reflecting on her Pulitzer-winning career.
Vasarhelyi and Chin don’t shy away from intensity. Just check out Jodie Foster and Annette Bening in Nyad or the heart-pounding daredevilism of rock climber Alex Honnold in Free Solo.
Sean Baker EPs the doc Modern Whore.
Synopsis:
Andrea Werhun as she portrays her past roles as escort Mary Ann, stripper Sophia, and her OnlyFans presence - all part of her Toronto sex work journey.
Directed, produced, and co-written by Nicole Bazuin, based on the book she co-authored with Werhun. This has distribution through Quiver. Protagonist Picks takes international sales rights. Teaser.
ABC News Studios acquires Lilith Fair: Build a Mystery for US release.
Synopsis:
Behind the scenes of Sarah McLachlan’s legendary all-women music festival. Interviews w/ Bonnie Raitt and Olivia Rodrigo.
Airing Sept. 17th, then headed to Hulu and Disney+ Sept 21st.
Tidbits:
John Dower has aviation on the brain. He directed 4 eps of Sky’s aviation disaster show Lockerbie. Now he rolls into TIFF with the world premiere of The Balloonists, which follows the first team to fly a hot air balloon around the globe nonstop. Prod co: Anonymous Content.
Michèle Stephenson (Dir: HBO’s Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project) is world premiering True North. It centers on Concordia University’s 1969 Black student protests against racism.
A Life Illuminated (World Premiere) from Tasha Van Zandt feels ripe for a Nat Geo pick-up. It follows renowned marine biologist Dr. Edith Widder through the magical world of deep-sea bioluminescence.
Best doc synopsis goes to Whistle: An eccentric group of international whistlers descend on Hollywood to compete in the Masters of Musical Whistling. From director Christopher Nelius.
Sundance Institute serves as the production company for Powwow People. A doc from first-time feature director Sky Hopinka on the Native American powwow culture.
TIFF INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Elevation Pictures (The Brutalist, Anora, Longlegs) is one of Canada’s top arthouse distributors. They have two films at TIFF:
Blood Lines
Dir: Gail Maurice
Synopsis:
An estranged Métis mother and daughter struggle to overcome their differences but their world comes crashing down when an alluring woman enters their lives.
A pastoral drama of family and reconnection.
Honey Bunch
Dir: Dusty Mancinelli, Madeleine Sims-Fewer
Genre: Comedy/Thriller
When Diana wakes from a coma with memory loss, she and her husband seek experimental treatments at a remote facility. As the procedures intensify, their marriage is put to the test and Diana begins to question her husband's true motives.
XYZ Films is the sales rep, so you know it has some solid genre thrills.
Youngblood, directed by Hubert Davis, reimagines the classic 1986 film. If you’re unfamiliar, that stars Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze (remastered trailer). It centers on an ice hockey tryout. But if you’re imagining Miracle, it’s rougher, more sexualized, and more Canadian local.
That makes it perfect for Toronto local Davis, whose previous film was Lionsgate’s Black Ice (2022), winner of the People's Choice Award for Documentaries (trailer). He doesn’t pull any punches. But there’s also a slickness to his filmmaking that we imagine will make his re-imaging of Youngblood feel both lacerating and fun.
Under The Same Sun, from director Ulises Porra (Tigre), will have its World Premiere.
Synopsis:
A Spanish settler, his Chinese companion, and a former Haitian soldier work together to bring high-quality silk production to early 19th-century Hispaniola, in this emotionally charged, politically resonant historical drama.
Tidbits (pulled from TIFF’s highlights):
The Cost of Heaven, a film from Quebec’s Mathieu Denis (whose TIFF ’16 film Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Dig Their Own Graves was awarded that year’s Best Canadian Feature), starring French actor Samir Guesmi.
TIFF INTERNATIONAL NEWS
The Condor Daughter feels like it’s ripped the color palette from Dee Rees' breakout film Pariah. And that’s a good thing!
The story is totally unique:
A young Quechua midwife sings to pregnant women, calming their pain through her song. Her mother, a veteran midwife, understands this gift as a miracle granted by the Gods. Influenced by her best friend and after getting to know a group of city singers, the young woman decides to leave and pursue a career as a singer.
We won’t give the rest of this away, but there’s a fierce spirituality to this that becomes dangerous. From director Álvaro Olmos Torrico.
An action samurai film hiding out in a movie from Chad/France/Germany/Côte d’Ivoire? That’s Diya, which will have its North American premiere.
Synopsis:
A man accused of killing a child must pay a blood debt.
The first look photos betray a hard-hitting thriller.
The Fox King (2025) has a killer synopsis:
Fraternal twins with a telepathic bond are abandoned by their father after his remarriage. Left to fend for themselves, their brotherly connection faces a test with the arrival of a new teacher, Lara.
There’s a grounded sci-fi nature to this premise that could tilt in either direction.
Don’t judge a film by its poster, but In Search of the Sky may be an exception. The synopsis sounds so-so:
An aging couple struggles to keep their farm while caring for their special-needs son.
But the poster makes the entire thing look somehow grittier and more magical in a single frame. Poster.
XYZ Films’ The Furious (Midnight Madness) has some of that high-intensity genre action. That from the trailer can only be described as heart-pounding and a little zany. Trailer.
TIFF WAVELENGTHS
TIFF Wavelengths section, highlighting their picks of the best of international cinema from early-stage directors, includes:
Magellan
Cast: Gael García Bernal
Follows Magellan and Beatriz Barbosa's 1517 marriage in Seville
Premiere: Sundance (where it was pulled and re-stated)
Dir: Kahlil Joseph (Beyonce’s Lemonade)
OG financiers/prod company: Participant Media
New Prod Co: James Shani’s Rich Spirit (The Apprentice) and BN Media (the film’s production company)
Dry Leaf
Premiere: Locarno
Sales Rep: Heretic (Prod co for Triangle of Sadness, The Return)
Levers
Dir: Rhayne Vermette (DP: Sundance’s Dead Lover), Feature debut
Mare’s Nest
Sales Rep: Rediance (Prod co: Memoria, Grand Tour
Prod: Andrea Queralt (prod: Cannes 3rd place winner Sirât)
Seasons (2025)
Dir: Maureen Fazendeiro (Casting Dir/Wri: Cannes’ Grand Tour)
Full line-up here.
Plus, TIFF Classics' full offering here, including a 35MM print of Jaws.
TIFF PRIMETIME
TIFF goes hard on TV series. In their Primetime line-up, they’re premiering some shows that caught my eye:
The Lowdown
Creator/EP/Wri/Dir: Sterlin Harjo (Reservation Dogs)
Star/EP: Ethan Hawke
Network: FX
Premiere Date: September 23
Synopsis:
The story of a man who knows too much.
Wayward
Creator/Showrunner: Mae Martin (Netflix’s Feel Good)
Star: Toni Collette, Mae Martin
Network: Netflix
Premiere Date: September 25
Teaser - full David Lynch vibes
Synopsis:
A bucolic but sinister town explores the insidious intricacies of the troubled teen industry, and the eternal struggle of the next generation.
Black Rabbit
Creator/Showrunner: Zach Baylin (Writer: King Richard, The Order) and Kate Susman (EP: The Order)
Star: Jude Law, Jason Bateman, Odessa Young
Network: Netflix
Premiere Date: September 18
Synopsis:
When the owner of a New York City hotspot allows his turbulent brother back in his life, he opens the door to escalating dangers that threaten to bring down everything he's built.
A few more that caught my eye:
Max’s first Italian-scripted original, Portobello, a series from Italian auteur Marco Bellocchio (Good Morning, Night). The new drama will tell the story of Italian TV host Enzo Tortora, who was a victim of one of Italy’s most notorious travesties of justice. Trailer.
We’re also excited for Sameer Nair’s Gandhi. Don’t know who Nair is? Well, he’s responsible for much of the top TV in India, including the Indian version of The Office.
Fremantle has Origin: The Story of the Basketball Africa League with interviews from Steph Curry and Obama.
BBC Studios’ Reunion is about a deaf guy who commits a horrible crime but is let into a much-changed world.
Full line-up here.
TIFF FINAL ADDITIONS
TIFF adds 6 titles to its lineup of 209 feature films. Including two world premieres:
& Sons
Dir: Pablo Trapero (The Clan)
Starring: Bill Nighy, Matt Smith, George MacKay
Writer: Sarah Polley (dir/writer: Women Talking)
The Fence
Dir: Claire Denis
Cast: Matt Dillon, Mia McKenna-Bruce (How to Have Sex), and Isaach de Bankolé (Chocolat)
Plus, the post-Venice premiere of The Wizard of the Kremlin starring Jude Law and Paul Dano.
See the full list of TIFF Centerpiece here.
And TIFF Docs here.
Written and edited by Gabriel Miller.