Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” Edward Berger’s “Ballad of a Small Player,” Bobby Farrelly’s “Driver’s Ed,” Brian Cox’s “Glenrothan,” Gus Van Sant’s “Dead Man’s Wire,” Richard Linklater’s “Nouvelle Vague” and Baz Luhrmann’s “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert” will screen in the Galas and Special Presentations sections of the 2025 Toronto international Film Festival, TIFF organizers announced on Monday.
Those films were among the more than 50 new movies that were added to the robust TIFF lineup. Previously, the festival had announced 17 other galas and special premieres, including Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet,” Derek Cianfrance’s “Roofman,” Steven Soderbergh’s “The Christophers,” Agnieszka Holland’s “Franz,” Paul Greengrass’ “The Lost Bus” and Rian Johnson’s “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.” The festival will open with Colin Hanks’ documentary “John Candy: I Like Me.”
More than 30 of the newly announced films will be world premieres. Those include “Driver’s Ed,” with Kumail Nanjiani and Sam Nivola; David Mackenzie’s “Fuze,” with Aaron Taylor Johnson and Theo James; James Vanderbilt’s “Nuremberg,” with Rami Malek and Russell Crowe; Jonatan Etzler’s “Bad Apples,” with Saoirse Ronan; David Michôd’s “Christy,” with Sydney Sweeney; Alice Winocour’s “Couture,” with Angelina Jolie; and Romain Gavras’ “Sacrifice,” with Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Evans.
Based on their TIFF designation as North American or Canadian premieres rather than world premieres, films that will premiere at other festivals prior to their Toronto screenings include “Frankenstein” and Benny Safdie’s “The Smashing Machine,” both of which seem to be locks for Venice; and “Hamnet,” “Ballad of a Small Player” and Daniel Roher’s “Tuner,” whose “Canadian Premiere” designations suggest that they’ll be in the lineup at the Telluride Film Festival (and potentially Venice, too).
Films that have already appeared at previous specials include the Sundance hit “Train Dreams” from Clint Bentley as well as a number of Cannes titles, among them Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or winner “It Was Just an Accident,” Joachim Trier’s Grand Prix winner “Sentimental Value,” Richard Linklater’s “Nouvelle Vague,” Scarlett Johansson’s “Eleanor the Great” and Kleber Mendonça Filho’s “The Secret Agent.”
Anne Émond’s “Peak Everything,” a well-received Canadian black comedy that premiered in Cannes, will be the closing-night film at TIFF.
Besides Johansson’s film, the list includes several other films from directors who are better known as actors: Aziz Ansari’s “Good Fortune,” Brian Cox’s “Glenrothan,” Alex Winter’s “Adulthood,” Maude Apatow’s “Poetic License” and James McAvoy’s “California Schemin’.”
A handful of documentaries are also on the list, including Ally Pankiw’s “Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery,” Nick Davis “You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution…,” Lisa Rideout’s “Degrassi: Whatever It Takes” and a new film from Baz Luhrmann, who is following up his hit “Elvis” with the doc “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert,” a mixture of concert performances, behind-the-scenes footage and Elvis’ reflections.
Additional films will be announce for the 50th Toronto International Film Festival in a string of different releases between July 22 and Aug. 8. The festival will take place from Sept. 4-14, 2025.
2025 Galas
*previously announced titles
“Adulthood,” Alex Winter (World Premiere)
* “The Choral,” Nicholas Hytner (World Premiere)
“Driver’s Ed,” Bobby Farrelly (World Premiere)
“Eleanor the Great,” Scarlett Johansson (North American Premiere)
“Eternity,” David Freyne (World Premiere)
“Fuze,” David Mackenzie (World Premiere)
“Glenrothan,” Brian Cox (World Premiere)
“Good Fortune,” Aziz Ansari (World Premiere)
* “Hamnet,” Chloé Zhao (Canadian Premiere)
* “Homebound,” Neeraj Ghaywan (North American Premiere)
* “John Candy: I Like Me,” Colin Hanks (World Premiere)
“Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery,” Ally Pankiw (World Premiere)
“Nuremberg,” James Vanderbilt (World Premiere)
“Palestine 36,” Annemarie Jacir (World Premiere)
“Peak Everything,” Anne Émond (Toronto Premiere – Closing Night Gala)
* “A Private Life,” Rebecca Zlotowski (North American Premiere)
* “Roofman,” Derek Cianfrance (World Premiere)
* “She Has No Name,” Peter Ho-Sun Chan (North American Premiere)
“Sholay,” Ramesh Sippy (North American Premiere – 50th Anniversary Restoration)
“Swiped,” Rachel Lee Goldenberg (World Premiere)
“Two Pianos,” Arnaud Desplechin (World Premiere)
2025 Special Presentations
* previously announced titles
“Bad Apples,” Jonatan Etzler (World Premiere)
“Ballad of a Small Player,” Edward Berger (Canadian Premiere)
“California Schemin’,” James McAvoy (World Premiere)
“Calle Malaga,” Maryam Touzani (North American Premiere)
* “The Captive,” Alejandro Amenábar (World Premiere)
“Charlie Harper,” Tom Dean, Mac Eldridge (World Premiere)
* “The Christophers,” Steven Soderbergh (World Premiere)
“Christy,” David Michôd (World Premiere)
“Couture,” Alice Winocour (World Premiere)
“Dead Man’s Wire,” Gus Van Sant (North American Premiere)
“Degrassi: Whatever It Takes,” Lisa Rideout (World Premiere)
“Easy’s Waltz,” Nic Pizzolatto (World Premiere)
“EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert,” Baz Luhrmann (World Premiere)
“Eternal Return,” Yaniv Raz (World Premiere)
“Frankenstein,” Guillermo del Toro (North American Premiere)
* “Franz,” Agnieszka Holland (World Premiere)
* “Good News,” Byun Sung-hyun (World Premiere)
* “Hedda,” Nia DaCosta (World Premiere)
“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” Mary Bronstein (Canadian Premiere)
“It Was Just an Accident,” Jafar Panahi (Canadian Premiere)
“It Would Be Night in Caracas,” Mariana Rondón, Marité Ugás (World Premiere)
“Kokuho,” Lee Sang-il (North American Premiere)
“Ky Nam Inn,” Leon Le (World Premiere)
* “The Lost Bus,” Paul Greengrass (World Premiere)
“Lovely Day,” Philippe Falardeau (World Premiere)
“Meadowlarks,” Tasha Hubbard (World Premiere)
* “Mile End Kicks,” Chandler Levack (World Premiere)
“Monkey in a Cage,” Anurag Kashyap (World Premiere)
“Nouvelle Vague,” Richard Linklater (Canadian Premiere)
“A Pale View of Hills,” Kei Ishikawa (North American Premiere)
“A Poet,” Simón Mesa Soto (North American Premiere)
“Poetic License,” Maude Apatow (World Premiere)
“Primavera,” Damiano Michieletto (World Premiere)
“Project Y,” Lee Hwan (World Premiere)
* “Rental Family,” HIKARI (World Premiere)
“Rose of Nevada,” Mark Jenkin (North American Premiere)
“Sacrifice,” Romain Gavras (World Premiere)
“Scarlet,” Mamoru Hosoda (North American Premiere)
“The Secret Agent,” Kleber Mendonça Filho (Canadian Premiere)
“Sentimental Value,” Joachim Trier (Canadian Premiere)
“Silent Friend,” Ildikó Enyedi (North American Premiere)
“Sirāt,” Óliver Laxe (North American Premiere)
“The Smashing Machine,” Benny Safdie (North American Premiere)
“Sound of Falling,” Mascha Schilinski (North American Premiere)
* “Steal Away,” Clement Virgo (World Premiere)
“The Testament of Ann Lee,” Mona Fastvold (North American Premiere – Presented in 70mm)
“Three Goodbyes,” Isabel Coixet (World Premiere)
“Train Dreams,” Clint Bentley (International Premiere)
“Tuner,” Daniel Roher (Canadian Premiere)
“The Ugly,” Yeon Sang-ho (World Premiere)
“Uiksaringitara (Wrong Husband),” Zacharias Kunuk (North American Premiere)
* “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery,” Rian Johnson (World Premiere)
“You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution…,” Nick Davis (World Premiere)