2025 Toronto International Film Festival

The 50th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from September 4 to 14, 2025.^[1]

The first programming announcement was that Colin Hanks' documentary film John Candy: I Like Me, about the actor John Candy, would open the festival.^[2] The full program was released on August 12.

Preparations for the 2025 festival included the renewal of the festival's sponsorship deal with Rogers Communications, for three years through 2027.^[1] The sponsorship deal included a television special to air on Citytv.^[1]

Organizers also discussed the possibility of moving the festival a week later than its current early September placement, in response to industry feedback that the tight scheduling of the Venice, Telluride and Toronto film festivals presents a logistical challenge for filmmakers and industry professionals in travelling to all three festivals;^[3] however, moving the festival would have had a ripple effect on other Canadian film festivals, such as Cinéfest Sudbury, the Atlantic International Film Festival and the Calgary International Film Festival, which are scheduled overlapping with or very soon after TIFF, and would create some of the same logistical challenges. They ultimately decided to retain the existing schedule.^[4]

The first Tribute Award recipients were announced on July 31, including Guillermo del Toro as recipient of the director award, Hikari as recipient of the emerging talent award, Jodie Foster as recipient of the Share Her Journey groundbreaker award, and Lee Byung-hun as recipient of a special tribute award. Brendan Fraser served as honorary chair of the event.^[5]

The remainder of the Tribute Award recipients were announced on August 21, including Catherine O'Hara as recipient of the Norman Jewison Award, Nina Hoss and Channing Tatum as recipients of the Performer Award, Kazu Hiro as winner of the Variety Artisan Award, Idris Elba as recipient of the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media, and filmmakers Zacharias Kunuk and Jafar Panahi as recipients of Special Tribute Awards.^[6]

The festival's regular awards for films, including the People's Choice Award, were announced at the conclusion of the festival.^[7]

At Cannes, the festival announced plans to introduce a new International People's Choice award, to be presented to the most popular film from outside North America along the same model as the existing People's Choice Award.^[8] A new juried award was also introduced for Best Animated Short Film, separately from the existing awards for Canadian and international short films.^[9]

Some gala presentations were announced on July 16.^[10] A more complete Gala lineup was announced on July 21,^[11] with one additional gala added on August 12.^[12]

The first five titles in the Special Presentations program were announced on June 26, 2025.^[13] Several more titles were announced on July 16,^[10] with a more complete lineup announced on July 21.^[11] Five further titles were announced on August 12.^[12]

Titles in Centrepiece were announced on August 5.^[14]

Documentaries were announced on August 6.^[15]

On August 13, it was revealed that one additional documentary, Barry Avrich's The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue, had been planned for the festival but was excluded from the lineup announcement as the producers had not provided adequate proof that they had the proper legal clearances for all footage used in the film.^[16] The film was readded to the festival lineup on August 14, after the festival and the film's producers reached an agreement about the outstanding concerns.^[17]

Discovery titles were announced on July 23.^[18]

The Platform Prize lineup and jury were announced on July 22. The jury consisted of filmmakers Carlos Marqués-Marcet and Chloé Robichaud, and actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste.^[19]

The Midnight Madness slate was announced on July 24.^[20]

Primetime titles were announced on August 7.^[21]

Short Cuts titles were announced on August 7.^[9] The jury for the short film awards consisted of cinematographer Ashley Iris Gill, actor Connor Jessup, and Annecy International Animation Film Festival director Marcel Jean.^[9]

Wavelengths titles were announced on August 8.^[22]

Classics titles were announced on August 8.^[23]

Free public outdoor screenings of classic films with production or cast connections to films in the official program, at David Pecaut Square.

As in recent years, the festival also included market screenings for film industry, not open to the general public.^[24] This is in preparation for the official launch of a full film market at the 2026 festival.

In February the festival announced the first members of the inaugural advisory committee for the market project, including former Cannes Film Market head Jerome Paillard, film producers Niv Fichman, Vincent Maraval and Noah Segal, former SODEC president Monique Simard, Creative Artists Agency financier Roeg Sutherland, and Kerry Swanson of Canada's Indigenous Screen Office.^[3] Additional advisory committee members were announced in May, including Moses Babatope, Michael Barker, Arianna Bocco, Janet Brown, Diana Bustamante Escobar, Vicki Dobbs, Jeongin Hong and Laura Michalchyshyn.^[4]

Charles Tremblay, formerly of film distributors Métropole Films and MK2, has been announced as the leader of the film market.^[25] The film market is expected, but has not been formally confirmed, to be held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.^[4]

To mark the festival's 50th anniversary, the festival programmed a special series, The TIFF Story in 50 Films, to screen through June, July and August 2025 at the TIFF Lightbox. The program highlighted 50 past Canadian and international films that have played a significant role in the festival's story, such as by helping to define the festival's vision or its status as a global platform and tastemaker.^[26]

On August 13, 2025 (a month before the festival), organizers of the festival withdrew the invitation to screen the Israeli documentary The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue, which depicts rescue efforts by retired Major General Noam Tibon during the October 7 attacks in southern Israel. The cancellation cited a copyright claim, stating that the filmmakers did not obtain permission to use video footage recorded by Hamas during the attacks and concerns over possible disruptions as the reason for the decision.^[27][28] Critics noted that Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by the Government of Canada,^[29] and argued that the decision effectively required Israeli filmmakers to seek approval from a group officially recognized as such in order to depict these events.^[30] Festival organizers defended their decision noting that they need to protect the festival from any potential copyright issues, and they impose this requirement on all films exhibited at the festival to either show copyright clearances or provide an indemnity to protect the festival from legal liability in the event that a copyright lawsuit is launched over the film's screening.^[31]

On August 14, 2025, following public criticism and discussions with the filmmakers, the organizers reversed their decision and reinstated the documentary in the festival's lineup.^{[32][33][34][35]}

• Official website