Toronto International Film Festival director and CEO Piers Handling and co-director Cameron Bailey have unveiled the team of programmers for this year’s 35th annual event.

In addition to Handling, who programmes from the UK, France, Italy and Poland, and Bailey, who programmes from the US, Europe, South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, the programming team is as follows:

Canadian Features: Montreal daily newspaper Le Devoir critic and columnist Martin Bilodeau; TIFF associate director of Canadian programming Steve Gravestock; and Agata Smoluch del Sorbo, who returns to the festival as a new programmer on the Canadian features team having previously programmed for Short Cuts Canada.

Short Cuts Canada: festival programmer Alex Rogalski; and TIFF Canadian Initiatives team coordinator Magali Simard.

Wavelengths: TIFF programmer Andrea Picard, who this year will also contribute to the Visions section.

Sprockets Family Zone: TIFF co-director of learning Allen Braude has served as the head programmer for Sprockets for the past three years; TIFF co-director of learning Elizabeth Muskala most recently served as director of programme administration.

Future Projections: TIFF Bell Lightbox artistic director Noah Cowan oversees the curatorial vision for the year-round programming that will be housed in TIFF’s new home and is the former co-director of the festival.

International Features programmers include: Dimitri Eipides, who is responsible for programming films from Iran, Eastern and Central Europe, and a number of Mediterranean countries and has been working with the festival since 1988; Italy-based Giovanna Fulvi, the East and South-east Asian cinema programmer and has been programming for TIFF since 1996; Colin Geddes, who selects films for the Midnight Madness series, and also programmes cutting-edge films in other sections and has been a programmer for the festival since 1998.

International Features continues with: Michele Maheux, TIFF executive director and chief operating officer, whoprogrammes a variety of films with a focus on Ireland; Diana Sanchez programmes from Spain, Portugal and Latin America for the festival and has worked with the organisation since 2002; Jane Schoettle is responsible for programming films from Australia, New Zealand and Israel, as well as American independent cinema and has worked with the festival since 2002. She is the founder and former director of Sprockets.

City To City: Kate Lawrie Van de Ven is a PhD candidate conducting research on contemporary city films and has worked for TIFF in various capacities since 2001.

Documentaries and Mavericks: Thom Powers has been an international documentary programmer for the festival since 2006. He is also responsible for Mavericks.

“We have assembled a stellar team of programmers for the festival who have a wealth of experience among them,” Handling said. “They will curatorially guide our audiences through programming which will connect and inspire people of all ages and backgrounds.”

“These programmers are truly the best in the business, and audiences can once again look forward to a wide-ranging and exciting line-up in September,” Bailey said.

The festival is scheduled to run from September 9-19.