Toronto film festival 2025 preview: Screen’s guide to the Special Presentations

Screen International rounds up the world and international premieres in the Toronto International Film Festival’s Special Presentations programme, with details on each title including sales contacts.

TIFF runs September 4-14.

& Sons (UK-Can)

Dir. Pablo Trapero
Argentinian filmmaker and TIFF regular Trapero (The Clan) makes his English-language feature debut with his adaptation of David Gilbert’s 2013 novel, co-writing with Sarah Polley. Bill Nighy stars as a famous novelist who seeks to mend the broken relationships in his life, summoning his three estranged sons (Johnny Flynn, George MacKay, Noah Jupe) 20 years after an incident tore the family apart. Imelda Staunton and Dominic West also star, and it’s produced by Phin Glynn, Axel Kuschevatzky and Cindy Teperman of Infinity Hill alongside Trapero.
Contact: Bankside Films 

Bad Apples (UK)

Dir. Jonatan Etzler
Saoirse Ronan (star of TIFF-­launched titles including 2020’s Ammonite, 2017’s Lady Bird and 2015’s Brooklyn) leads the cast of Swedish filmmaker Etzler’s English-­language feature debut, having directed Netflix comedy-­drama One More Time. This Bristol-shot thriller is an adaptation of Rasmus Lindgren’s Swedish-­language novel De Oönskade, about a teacher who takes drastic measures to control an unruly child in her class. Pulse Films produces, with development support from the Curzon CM Development Fund. Paramount’s Republic Pictures acquired global rights from Hanway.
Contact: Jennifer Weingroff, Republic Pictures 

Ballad Of A Small Player (UK)

Dir. Edward Berger
Bafta- and Oscar-winning Toronto regular Berger returns with the first feature under his Netflix first-look film deal. The drama stars Colin Farrell, Fala Chen and Tilda Swinton and is based on Lawrence Osborne’s 2014 novel of the same name about a high-stakes gambler lying low in Macao, China. Mike Goodridge’s Good Chaos, Berger’s Nine Hours and Matthew James Wilkinson’s Stigma Films produce. Berger was at Toronto last year with Conclave, while All Quiet On The Western Front premiered at the festival in 2022. The film’s status as a Canadian premiere suggests a Telluride launch.
Contact: Netflix

California Schemin’ (UK-US)

Dir. James McAvoy
Toronto is a good fit for Scottish actor McAvoy to land his directing debut, having starred in numerous festival titles including Atonement (2007), Starter For 10 (2006) and The Last King Of Scotland (2006). California Schemin’ stars Samuel Bottomley, Seamus McLean Ross and McAvoy, and is based on the true story of two Scottish men who pretended to be Californians to boost their rap careers in the 1990s (the subject of 2013 documentary The Great Hip Hop Hoax). Producers are Patriot Pictures and Homefront Productions, and Studiocanal releases in UK-­Ireland.
Contact: Bankside (international); UTA Independent Film Group (North America)

The Captive (Sp-It)

Dir. Alejandro Amenabar
The Captive explores the plight of wounded young navy soldier Miguel de Cervantes after being taken prisoner in Algiers in 1575. Spanish actor and singer Julio Peña (Disney Channel series Bia) stars as the future Don Quixote author in the $16.3m (€14m) Spanish-Italian production, which has the participation of Netflix, RTVE and Rai Cinema. Disney’s Buena Vista International releases in Spain on September 12. Amenabar (The Others) was last at Toronto in 2019 with Spanish Civil War drama While At War.
Contact: Global Constellation 

Charlie Harper (US)

Dirs. Tom Dean, Mac Eldridge
The director duo’s debut feature is a Dean-penned romantic drama about ambitious young chef Harper (Coda’s Emilia Jones) and her partner Charlie (Love, Simon’s Nick Robinson) who face challenges in their relationship as they try to build a life together in a new city. The film is produced by Patrick Wachsberger’s Picture Perfect Federation and Temple Hill Entertainment’s Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen, who reunite following their partnership on the Twilight franchise. Dean and Eldridge have both previously made shorts — separately and together.
Contact: Ashley Stern (international); UTA Independent Film Group (North America)

The Christophers (UK)

Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Soderbergh’s latest sees the Oscar winner return to the London setting of his last feature Black Bag. The black comedy tells the story of the estranged children of a famous artist employing a forger to finish his incomplete canvases so they’ll have an inheritance when he dies, and is scripted by Ed Solomon (Bill & Ted franchise, Men In Black). Ian McKellen, Michaela Coel, Jessica Gunning and James Corden star, and Los Angeles-based Department M produces.
Contact: Department M 

Christy (US)

Dir. David Michod
Michod’s fifth feature as director is a biographical drama starring Sydney Sweeney as boxer Christy Martin who rose to fame in the 1990s, and who in 2010 was shot, stabbed and left for dead by her manager husband James Martin (Ben Foster). Michod — whose previous features are Animal Kingdom, The Rover, War Machine and Shakespeare adaptation The King — also writes, with Mirrah Foulkes. Producers are Michod, Sweeney, Kerry Kohansky-­Roberts for Anony­mous Content, Teddy Schwarzman for Black Bear, and Justin Lothrop and Brent Stiefel for Votiv Films.
Contact: Black Bear 

Couture (Fr-US)

Dir. Alice Winocour
Versatile French writer/director Winocour (Augustine, Proxima) follows her reality-based 2022 urban drama Paris Memories with a very cosmopolitan feature set during Paris Fashion Week. Angelina Jolie stars as a visiting US filmmaker, alongside Swiss rising star Ella Rumpf (Marguerite’s Theorem, Alice Douard’s 2025 Cannes premiere Love Letters), Louis Garrel, Raw’s Garance Marillier and, making her big-screen debut, South Sudanese model Anyier Anei. CG Cinéma’s Charles Gillibert produces with Zhang Xin and William Horberg of Closer Media, and Jolie.
Contact: HanWay Films (international); UTA Independent Film Group (North America)

Degrassi: Whatever It Takes (Can)

Dir. Lisa Rideout
The long-running 1980s/’90s Canadian teen drama series Degrassi is celebrated by documentarian Rideout, who previously helmed 2022’s Sex With Sue, a portrait of Toronto sex educator Sue Johanson. Whatever It Takes features interviews with creators and stars of the programme, which was groundbreaking for its honest depiction of addiction, disability and sexuality among its adolescent characters. Fans may be most intrigued by the participation of hip-hop superstar Drake, whose career was launched by the 2000s revival Degrassi: The Next Generation.
Contact: WildBrain 

Easy’s Waltz (US)

Dir. Nic Pizzolatto
Creator of HBO’s series True Detective, writer/director Pizzolatto makes his feature debut with this Las Vegas-set story of a struggling crooner (Vince Vaughn) who might get his big break thanks to an ageing star (Al Pacino). The film, billed as a mix of A Star Is Born and Vaughn’s breakthrough Swingers, also stars Shania Twain, Cobie Smulders and stand-up Shane Gillis. Pizzolatto is no stranger to TIFF, having written or co-written films that have premiered at the festival, including 2016’s The Magnificent Seven and 2021’s The Guilty.
Contact: WME Independent 

EPiC: Elvis Presley In Concert (Australia)

Dir. Baz Luhrmann
Known for Cannes launches, Luhrmann now brings his debut documentary feature to TIFF. EPiC is produced by Sony Music Vision, BazMark Films and Authentic Studios (the studio division of intellectual property brand management firm Authentic Brand Group). Free of contemporary interviews with experts and critics, the archival film uses recently discovered and long-lost footage shot at the beginning of the famed performer’s Las Vegas residency, which began in 1969 and stretched to 1976. The footage combines rehearsals and live performance — which Luhrmann’s team unearthed while creating 2022’s Elvis.
Contact: Sony Music Vision 

Eternal Return (UK-US)

Dir. Yaniv Raz
Naomi Scott, Kit Harington and Simon Callow lead the cast of this romance about a young woman whose world is flipped when she meets a mapmaker. Producers are Macro Film Studios, BK Studios, Picture Films, New Name Entertainment and Gatherer Entertainment. Musician Moby’s production company Little Walnut is among the backers. Raz previously directed Dr. Bird’s Advice For Sad Poets, which played at Tallinn in 2021.
Contact: UMG/Lakeshore contact@theultimatemediagroup (international); CAA Media Finance filmsales@caa.com (North America)

The Fence (Fr)

Dir. Claire Denis
French filmmaker Denis follows her two 2022 features (Both Sides Of The Blade and Stars At Noon) with this adaptation of Bernard-­Marie Koltes’ play Black Battles With Dogs, written by Denis, Suzanne Lindon and Andrew Litvack. The film stars Matt Dillon and Isaach de Bankolé and is set over the course of one night at a white-run construction site in Africa where a local demands the return of the body of his brother killed in a work accident from the site’s foreman who is hiding the truth. Mia McKenna-Bruce and Tom Blyth also star.
Contact: Flavien Eripret, Goodfellas (international); CAA Media Finance (US)

Franz (Czech-Ger-Pol)

Dir. Agnieszka Holland
Steven Soderbergh’s Kafka (1991) blurred the line between fact and the titular Czech author’s fiction. Now esteemed Polish veteran Holland (an adapted screenplay Oscar nominee for 1990’s Europa Europa) offers her own take on Franz Kafka, co-writing with Marek Epstein (2007’s Václav). Idan Weiss stars in the title role, while the Czech Republic’s Marlene Film Production produces, co-­producing with Germany’s X-Filme, Poland’s Metro Films, France’s Bac Films and others. Holland’s last film Green Border premiered at Venice in 2023, before seguing to TIFF.
Contact: Films Boutique 

Good News (S Kor)

Dir. Byun Sung-hyun
Set in the 1970s and inspired by real events, this action thriller centres on a hijacked aircraft and a covert operation to land the plane safely. It marks the second collaboration between writer/director Byun and Netflix after Kill Boksoon, which premiered at the Berlinale in 2023. The cast includes Sul Kyung-gu, working with Byun for the fourth time, alongside Hong Kyung and Ryoo Seung-bum of Disney+ series Moving. Byun’s previous credits include The Merciless, which played Cannes in 2017. It is produced by Star Platinum.
Contact: Netflix

Hedda (US)

Dir. Nia DaCosta
Henrik Ibsen’s 1891 stage play Hedda Gabler — exploring themes of passion, authorship and professional rivalry — has been adapted for the screen several times before, including a 1975 film directed by Trevor Nunn and starring Glenda Jackson, who was Oscar-­nominated for her performance. DaCosta (Candy­man, The Marvels) directs her Little Woods star Tessa Thompson alongside Tom Bateman, Imogen Poots and — in a role originally written male by Ibsen — Nina Hoss. Shot in the UK and backed by Amazon MGM Studios, Hedda is produced by Plan B Entertainment and Orion Pictures.
Contact: Amazon MGM Studios

Ky Nam Inn (Viet)

Dir. Leon Le
Shot on 35mm, Le’s second film is set in post-war 1985 Saigon and follows a young translator who develops a bond with his neighbour, an older widow who is a relic of Vietnam’s defeated south. The cast is led by Lien Binh Phat, who starred in Le’s 2018 feature debut Song Lang, and Do Thi Hai Yen of The Quiet American. Le was an actor, dancer and singer before making Song Lang, which won awards at multiple festivals including Beijing and New York Asian Film Festival.
Contact: UFO Entertainment 

The Lost Bus (US)

Dir. Paul Greengrass
Last at TIFF in 2018 with the Venice-­launched Norway massacre drama 22 July, Greengrass returns with another true tale — this one about the 2018 deadly Camp Fire California wildfire. The Apple Original Films awards contender stars Matthew McConaughey as a school bus driver driving through the fire, with America Ferrera as a teacher on board. Greengrass and Brad Ingelsby (Mare Of Easttown) jointly adapt Lizzie Johnson’s non-fiction book Paradise: One Town’s Struggle To Survive An American Wildfire, with Jason Blum and Jamie Lee Curtis among the producers.
Contact: Apple TV+

Lovely Day (Can)

Dir. Philippe Falardeau
This comedy-drama stars Neil Elias as a harried groom navigating myriad personal and cultural challenges on his wedding day. Canadian writer/director Falardeau adapts Alain Farah’s 2021 autobiographical novel Mille Secrets Mille Dangers, which won the country’s Governor General’s Literary Prize for French fiction. He last premiered at TIFF with 2014 Reese Witherspoon drama The Good Lie. Since then, his films have unspooled at Locarno (My Internship In Canada), Venice (Chuck) and Berlin (My Salinger Year). His 2011 drama Monsieur Lazhar received an Oscar nomination for best foreign-language film.
Contact: micro_scope International 

Meadowlarks (Can)

Dir. Tasha Hubbard
Cree filmmaker Hubbard’s feature directing debut concerns Canada’s infamous Sixties Scoop, a controversial government policy that permitted Indigenous children to be removed from their homes against their will and adopted by white families. Meadowlarks is based on Hubbard’s own 2017 documentary Birth Of A Family, which chronicled the reunion of four siblings for the first time as adults. The drama stars acclaimed First Nations actor Michael Greyeyes, who last appeared at the festival in the 2024 thriller 40 Acres. Backers include Téléfilm Canada.
Contact: Experimental Forest Films 

Mile End Kicks (Can)

Dir. Chandler Levack
Toronto-born entertainment journalist and music video director Levack made her feature directing debut in 2022 with TIFF-launched coming-­of-age comedy drama I Like Movies. She returns with a comedy about a 24-year-old music critic (Barbie Ferreira) who gets romantically involved with members of an indie band she decides to publicise, set against Montreal’s music scene in 2011. Jay Baruchel and Devon Bostick also star. The film has backing from Téléfilm Canada, and Elevation Pictures distributes in its home market.
Contact: XYZ Films 

Monkey In A Cage (India)

Dir. Anurag Kashyap
Indian filmmaker Kashyap returns to the festival following TIFF selections That Girl In Yellow Boots, The Brawler and Husband Material. Titled Bandar in India, his latest is inspired by true events and centres on a former celebrity who is incarcerated after facing an accusation from a woman, and reunites Bobby Deol and Sanya Malhotra, who previously starred together in 2022’s Love Hostel. It is scripted by Sudip Sharma, co-creator of Netflix murder mystery series Kohrra and Prime Video crime drama Paatal Lok. Producer is Nikhil Dwivedi for his banner Saffron Magicworks.
Contact: Jeremy Chua, Potocol 

Poetic License (US)

Dir. Maude Apatow
The elder daughter of Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann makes her feature directing debut with a college campus comedy written by Raffi Donatich. It follows two inseparable best friends — Cooper Hoffman and Andrew Barth Feldman — who compete for the affection of an older woman (Mann), with the cast also including Nico Parker and Method Man. Apatow is known for her role as Lexi Howard in HBO TV series Euphoria. The film is produced by Jewelbox Pictures, which Apatow and Olivia Rosenbloom launched together in 2024, and Judd Apatow and Josh Church’s Apatow Productions.
Contact: WME Independent 

Primavera (It-Fr)

Dir. Damiano Michieletto
A renowned opera director whose productions have been staged in some of the world’s most prestigious temples of bel canto, from La Scala to Covent Garden, Michieletto makes his cinema debut with this period drama, loosely based on a 2009 Tiziano Scarpa novel about composer Antonio Vivaldi. Italian actress and pop star Tecla Insolia plays a 20-year-old violinist, segregated in a Venetian convent school, whose life is changed by the arrival of Vivaldi as the new music master. Paradise City Sales (formerly Memento International) announced pre-sales to a raft of key territories ahead of this year’s European Film Market.
Contact: Paradise City Sales 

Project Y (S Kor)

Dir. Lee Hwan
Set in Seoul’s dangerous Gangnam district, Project Y sees two friends attempting to move on from their dangerous lifestyles: facing a dead end, they discover a hidden fortune of dirty cash and bet on one final high-stakes gamble in a bid to escape. The cast is led by Han So-hee of Netflix series Gyeongseong Creature and Jun Jong-seo of Net­flix film Ballerina. It marks the third feature of director Lee after 2018’s Park Hwa-young and 2020’s Young Adult Matters. It is produced by Climax Studio and Yeon Sang-ho’s Wow Point.
Contact: Plus M Entertainment 

Rental Family (US-Japan)

Dir. Hikari
Osaka-born Hikari (aka Mitsuyo Miyazaki) relocated to Utah aged 17, and worked as an actor in Los Angeles before graduating with an MA from USC School of Cinematic Arts. Her second feature — following the 2019 Berlin-launched 37 Seconds — stars Brendan Fraser as a US actor living in Japan, hired to be the token white guy at a firm offering rental family services (a phenomenon explored by Werner Herzog’s Family Romance, LLC in 2019). Hikari co-writes with Stephen Blahut (the Los Angeles-based director of photography who shot 37 Seconds), and Searchlight Pictures/ Disney has worldwide rights.
Contact: Searchlight Pictures

Sacrifice (UK-Greece)

Dir. Romain Gavras
French filmmaker Gavras’ English-­language debut stars Anya Taylor-­Joy, Chris Evans, Salma Hayek Pinault, Sam Richardson, Vincent Cassel, John Malkovich, Ambika Mod and Charli XCX, in a story about a glamorous charity gala that gets hijacked. Producers include Iconoclast, Mid March Media and Heretic, while Film4, Gucci, Head Gear Films and the Onassis Foundation are among the financiers. Gavras — whose credits including Venice 2022 premiere Athena and Cannes Directors’ Fortnight 2018 title The World Is Yours — co-wrote the script with Succession writer and co-producer Will Arbery.
Contact: Rocket Science (international); CAA Media Finance (US)

Steal Away (Can-Belg)

Dir. Clement Virgo
Virgo’s Brother won acclaim at TIFF in 2022, before going on to win 12 prizes including best picture at the Canadian Screen Awards the following year. Karolyn Smardz Frost’s 2017 non-fiction book Steal Away Home is adapted for the screen by Canada’s Virgo and his author wife Tamara Faith Berger, telling the story of a teenager in Belgium (Angourie Rice) who forms an intense bond with a refugee taken in by her family (Mallori Johnson). Virgo and Damon D’Oliveira produce for Canada’s Conquering Lion Pictures alongside Peter De Maegd and Tom Hameeuw for Belgium’s Potemkino.
Contact: Visit Films 

Three Goodbyes (It-Sp)

Dir. Isabel Coixet
Adapted from late Italian author Michela Murgia’s semi-­autobiographical novel Three Bowls, this romantic drama stars Alba Rohrwacher and Elio Germano as Marta and Antonio, who are lovers in the aftermath of a break-up, which leaves Marta sickly and appreciating life’s fleeting pleasures. Spanish filmmaker Coixet premieres her first picture at Toronto since 2014 comedy-drama Learning To Drive, which featured Patricia Clarkson and Ben Kingsley. Her most recent film, 2023’s spiky romantic drama Un Amor, won two prizes at San Sebastian, including best supporting performance for Hovik Keuchkerian.
Contact: Alessandro Caccamo, Vision Distribution 

Tuner (US)

Dir. Daniel Roher
Dustin Hoffman and Leo Woodall star in the debut fiction feature for documentarian Roher, whose Navalny won the Oscar in 2023. Writing alongside Robert Ramsey, who co-wrote the Coen brothers’ Intolerable Cruelty, the heist thriller sees a piano tuner’s life turned upside down after he discovers his skills can also be applied to cracking safes. JoAnne Sellar (Paul Thomas Anderson’s regular producing partner) and Lila Yacoub (Eighth Grade) produce the Black Bear-backed film — likely to launch at Telluride given TIFF’s Canadian premiere billing.
Contact: Black Bear (international); UTA Independent Film Group (North America)

The Ugly (S Kor)

Dir. Yeon Sang-ho
Train To Busan director Yeon returns with a psychological thriller in which a man sets out to uncover the truth when his long-lost mother, thought to have been missing for 40 years, is found dead. The cast is led by Park Jeong-min, known for Yeon’s Netflix series Hellbound, and Kwon Hae-hyo (A Traveler’s Needs). Based on Yeon’s own 2018 graphic novel of the same name, it is produced by Wow Point. It will mark the filmmaker’s first theatrical feature since Cannes 2020 selection Peninsula.
Contact: Plus M Entertainment

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (US)

Dir. Rian Johnson
Knives Out and its sequel Glass Onion premiered at TIFF in 2019 and 2022 respectively, both making their European premiere at BFI London Film Festival. Wake Up Dead Man follows the same game plan, serving as the London opener this time. Daniel Craig returns as private eye Benoit Blanc, with a support cast including Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott and Cailee Spaeny. Netflix has world rights — as it did with Glass Onion but not Knives Out — and Ram Bergman and Johnson produce for T-Street.
Contact: Netflix

You Had To Be There… (US)

Dir. Nick Davis
At 31 words, this is the film with the longest title at TIFF 2025: You Had To Be There: How The Toronto Godspell Ignited The Comedy Revolution, Spread Love & Overalls, And Created A Community That Changed The World (In A Canadian Kind Of Way). Former improv comedian Davis pivoted to filmmaking in the 1990s, and now presents this documentary about a legendary 1972 Toronto production of Godspell, which boasted Martin Short, Gilda Radner and Eugene Levy in the original cast. Judd Apatow executive produces.
Contact: CAA Media Finance ; UTA Independent Film Group 

• The lowdown on the 2025 Toronto lineup