TIFF 2025 Lineup Revealed: New Films from Safdie, Del Toro, Van Sant, and Berger

The Toronto International Film Festival is back for its 50th edition, and this morning’s lineup revealed an intriguing update as to what to expect with this year’s fall fests.

Among the world premieres, films not going to Venice and Telluride, but only TIFF, which can at times be a sign of quality, or lack there of, these are the titles:

Below are the newly announced Gala and Special Presentation selections in alphabetical order.

• Adulthood | Alex Winter

• Driver’s Ed | Bobby Farrelly

• Fuze | David Mackenzie

• Glenrothan | Brian Cox

• Good Fortune | Aziz Ansari

• Nuremberg | James Vanderbilt

• Two Pianos | Arnaud Desplechin

• Bad Apples | Jonatan Etzler

• Poetic License | Maude Apatow

• Christy | David Michôd

• California Schemin’ | James McAvoy

• Couture | Alice Winocour

• Easy’s Waltz | Nic Pizzolatto

• Sacrifice | Romain Gavras

• Three Goodbyes | Isabel Coixet

One can only surmise that Desplechin, Gavras, Michôd, Winocour, and Coixet got rejected by Venice and/or Telluride. I’m sure of the others were also passed on by those fests.

TIFF will also play host to high-profile North American premieres, many of these are films NOT going to Telluride, but expected to world premiere at the Venice Film Festival:

• Dead Man’s Wire | Gus Van Sant

• Frankenstein | Guillermo del Toro

• The Smashing Machine | Benny Safdie

• The Testament of Ann Lee | Mona Fastvold

• Silent Friend | Ildikó Enyedi

• Rose of Nevada | Mark Jenkin

• Scarlet | Mamoru Hosoda

• Calle Malaga | Maryam Touzani

Meanwhile, of the TIFF titles announced this morning, only three films are world premiering at Telluride:

• Ballad of a Small Player | Edward Berger

• Hamnet | Chloe Zhao (MAYBE)

• Tuner | Daniel Roher

International auteurs are also heavily represented. There are tons of Cannes films in the TIFF lineup, which are now Telluride-bound:

• It Was Just an Accident | Jafar Panahi

• Nouvelle Vague | Richard Linklater

• Sentimental Value | Joachim Trier

• The Secret Agent | Kleber Mendonça Filho

Elsewhere on the TIFF schedule, and previously announced : Rian Johnson’s “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery,” Derek Cianfrance’s “Roofman,” Steven Soderbergh’s “The Christophers,” and Nia DaCosta’s “Hedda.”

Noteworthy TIFF Runtimes —

Frankenstein: 149 Min.
Nuremberg: 148 Min.
Wake Up Dead Man: 140 Min.
The Testament Of Ann Lee: 137 Min.
Christy: 135 Min.
The Lost Bus: 129 Min.
Hamnet: 125 Min.
The Smashing Machine: 123 Min.
Roofman: 120 Min.
Couture: 106 Min.

Dead Man’s Wire: 104 Min.
Rental Family: 103 Min.
Sacrifice: 103 Min.
Ballad of a Small Player: 101 Min.
The Christophers: 100 Min.
Fuze: 98 Min.
Good Fortune: 98 Min.