World premieres of Free Solo co-directors Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s profile of photojournalist Lynsey Addario in Love+War and Tasha Van Zandt’s feature A Life Illuminated about oceanographer Edith Widder are among the TIFF Docs line-up announced on Wednesday.
The programme brings first looks of John Dower’s The Balloonists about circumnavigating adventurers, Lorena Luciano’s account of Catholic Church abuse in Nuns vs. The Vatican with Mariska Hargitay on board as executive producer, and Canadian filmmaker Nicole Bazuin’s sex industry film Modern Whore.
TIFF Docs will open with Canadian director Ben Proudfoot’s The Eyes Of Ghana, backed by executive producers Barack and Michelle Obama, which profiles the Ghanaian filmmaker Chris Hesse.
There is a North American premiere for Lucrecia Martel’s Landmarks, an international premiere for Rosi’s Below The Clouds, and the Canadian premiere of Cover Up from Poitras and Mark Obenhaus – all of which are Venice-bound. Raoul Peck’s recent Cannes premiere Orwell: 2+2=5 gets its North American premiere.
The new selections join several that have already been announced. John Candy: I Like Me and Lilith Fair: Building A Mystery screen in the Gala programme; Degrassi: Whatever It Takes, Epic: Elvis Presley In Concert, and You Had To Be There: How The Toronto Godspell Ignited The Comedy Revolution… in Special Presentations; and Palimpsest: The Story Of A Name was announced yesterday in the Centrepiece programme.
All in all there are 23 titles from 18 countries, and 16 world premieres. TIFF runs September 4-14.
2025 TIFF Docs programme appears in alphabetical order below
A Life Illuminated (USA)
Dir. Tasha Van Zandt
World premiere
A Simple Soldier (Ukr)
Dirs. Juan Camilo Cruz, Artem Ryzhykov
North American premiere
Aki (Can)
Dir. Darlene Naponse
World premiere
The Balloonists (US-UK-Austria)
Dir. John Dower
World premiere
Below The Clouds (It)
Dir. Gianfranco Rosi
International premiere
Canceled: The Paula Deen Story (US)
Dir. Billy Corben
World premiere
Cover-Up (US)
Dirs. Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus
Canadian premiere
Opening Film
The Eyes Of Ghana (US)
Dir. Ben Proudfoot
World premiere
Flana (Iraq-Fr-Qat)
Dir. Zahraa Ghandour
World premiere
Love+War (US)
Dirs. Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin
World premiere
Modern Whore (Can)
Dir. Nicole Bazuin
World premiere
Ni-Naadamaadiz: Red Power Rising (Can)
Dir. Shane Belcourt
World premiere
Landmarks (Nuestra Tierra, Arg-US-Mex-Fr-Den-Neth)
Dir. Lucrecia Martel
North American premiere
Nuns vs. The Vatican (US)
Dir. Lorena Luciano
World premiere
Orwell: 2+2=5 (US-Fr)
Dir. Raoul Peck
North American premiere
Powwow People (US)
Dir. Sky Hopinka
World premiere
Put Your Soul On Your Hand And Walk (Fr-Pal-Iran)
Dir. Sepideh Farsi
North American premiere
Still Single (Can)
Dirs. Jamal Burger, Jukan Tateisi
World premiere
The Tale Of Silyan (N Mac)
Dir. Tamara Kotevska
North American premiere
There Are No Words (Can)
Dir. Min Sook Lee
World premiere
True North (US-Can)
Dir. Michèle Stephenson
World premiere
While The Green Grass Grows: A Diary In Seven Parts
Dir. Peter Mettler
World premiere
Whistle (Australia)
Dir. Christopher Nelius
World premiere.
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