#TIFF25: CENTREPIECE PROGRAMME ANNOUNCED AT 2025 TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

TIFF is proud to announce this year’s Centrepiece programme, the Festival’s global showcase of compelling cinema from around the world. This year, there are 55 titles from filmmakers representing nearly fifty countries including Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chad, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, France, Germany, Iraq, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico, Poland, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand, reflecting TIFF’s commitment to global cinema. Centrepiece provides a platform for internationally recognized films, acclaimed titles from other festivals around the globe, and highly anticipated premieres from Canadian and international talents. This year’s slate includes the latest work from influential filmmakers Hubert Davis, Mathieu Denis, Hasan Hadi, Chie Hayakawa, Anders Thomas Jensen, Jan Komasa, Richard Linklater, Sergei Loznitsa, Pietro Marcello, Christian Petzold, Potsy Poncirol and Álvaro Olmos Torrico.

The 50th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, presented by Rogers, will take place September 4–14, 2025.

Hear from Jason Anderson: TIFF’s new Lead Programmer, Canada:

Centrepiece has 19 world premieres including:

Blood Lines, Gail Maurice’s sophomore feature, a pastoral drama of family and reconnection

Carolina Caroline, directed by Adam Carter Rehmeier, an outlaw romance starring Samara Weaving and Kyle Gallner (still seen above)

Erupcja, directed by Pete Ohs, features a combustible chemistry between a Polish florist (Lena Góra) and a British tourist (Charli xcx)

Good Boy, by Jan Komasa, a twisted thriller about freedom and identity, starring Stephen Graham, Andrea Riseborough, and Anson Boon

I Swear, from Kirk Jones, the inspirational true story of John Davidson, a trailblazer whose honesty and humour helped the world better understand what it means to live with Tourette Syndrome

Nomad Shadow, Eimi Imanishi’s poignant debut feature about a refugee to Spain who’s forced to return to Western Sahara

Palimpsest: the Story of a Name, from Mary Stephen (Shades of Silk), a deeply personal story about her family’s complicated history and their Western surname

Saipan, from filmmakers Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D’Sa, about a rift between star player Roy Keane and manager Mick McCarthy on the eve of the 2002 World Cup, starring Éanna Hardwicke and Steve Coogan

The Condor Daughter, from Álvaro Olmos Torrico, about a young woman who inherits the sacred art of midwifery but dreams of conquering the city with her voice

The Cost of Heaven, a film from Quebec’s Mathieu Denis (whose TIFF ’16 film Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Dig Their Own Graves was awarded that year’s Best Canadian Feature), starring French actor Samir Guesmi

The President’s Cake, from a multiple award winner at Cannes, Iraqi filmmaker Hasan Hadi, a heartbreaking and unforgettable look at a country crushed by poverty and international sanctions — and ruled by a sadistic, greedy and vain tyrant

Unidentified, the latest from Saudi Arabian director Haifaa Al Mansour (Wadjda), an iconoclastic crime thriller that questions our collective fascination with tales of femicide

Wasteman, Cal McMau’s debut feature, which peels back the conventions of the prison drama, featuring rising star David Jonsson (Alien: Romulus)

Whitetail, from Dutch filmmaker Nanouk Leopold, a slow-burn thriller with a haunting performance from Natasha O’Keeffe (Peaky Blinders)

Youngblood, directed by Hubert Davis, starring Blair Underwood and Shawn Doyle, and co-written by the late Charles Officer, is a powerful tribute to the Toronto filmmaker, and a reimagining of the original 1986 film

Hear from Diana Cadavid, International Programmer Latin America, Spain, Portugal:

Notable North American premieres include: French animation director Ugo Bienvenu’s Arco,Thai filmmaker Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s A Useful Ghost, Barrio Triste, from music video director STILLZ, Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon, Chadian director Achille Ronaimou’s surprising debut feature Diya, Genki Kawamura’s Exit 8, Quebec screenwriter, actor and director Eric K. Boulianne’s Follies, Taiwanese actor and director Shu Qi’s Girl, Iraqi filmmaker’s Mohamed Jabarah’s Irkalla: Gilgamesh’s Dream, Shih-Ching Tsou’s Left-Handed Girl, co-written by Sean Baker, Lucky Lu by Korean-Canadian writer-director and 2025 TIFF–CBC Films Screenwriter Award recipient Lloyd Lee Choi, German auteur Christian Petzold’s Miroirs No. 3, Italian filmmaker Francesco Sossai’s The Last One for The Road, Danish filmmaker Anders Thomas Jensen’s The Last Viking, Diego Céspedes’ The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo. Hafsia Herzi’s The Little Sister, and other Centrepiece standout selections are: Duse, an International Premiere from visionary Italian auteur Pietro Marcello (whose Martin Eden won TIFF’s 2019 Platform prize) and Hamlet, a Canadian Premiere from director Aneil Karia.

Centrepiece is programmed by Jason Anderson, Kelly Boutsalis, Diana Cadavid, Robyn Citizen, Claire Diao, Giovanna Fulvi, June Kim, Dorota Lech, Anita Lee, Peter Kuplowsky, Andréa Picard, and Jason Ryle.

2025 CENTREPIECE PROGRAMME (in alphabetical order)

A Useful Ghost | Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke | Thailand/France/Singapore/Germany
North American Premiere

Arco | Ugo Bienvenu | France
Produced by: Natalie Portman, Félix de Givry, Sophie Mas
In 2075, a ten year old girl, Iris, witnesses a mysterious boy in a rainbow suit fall from the sky. It’s Arco. He comes from an idyllic far future where time travel is possible. Iris shelters him and will do whatever it takes to help him return to his timeNorth American Premiere

Barrio Triste | STILLZ | Colombia/USA
North American Premiere

Blood Lines | Gail Maurice | Canada
Directed by: Gail Maurice
Starring: Dana Solomon, Derica LeFrance, Mélanie Bray, Bertha Durocher, Maggie Maurice, Mary Burnouf, Tamara Podemski, Gail Maurice
An estranged Métis mother and daughter struggle to overcome their differences, but their world comes crashing down when an alluring woman enters their lives.World Premiere

Blue Heron | Sophy Romvari | Canada/Hungary
North American Premiere

Blue Moon | Richard Linklater | USA/Ireland
North American Premiere

Carolina Caroline | Adam Carter Rehmeier | USA
World Premiere

Dandelion’s Odyssey | Momoko Seto | France/Belgium
North American Premiere

Diya | Achille Ronaimou | Chad/France/Germany/Côte d’Ivoire
North American Premiere

Duse | Pietro Marcello | France/Italy
International Premiere

Eagles of the Republic | Tarik Saleh | Sweden/France/Denmark/Finland/Germany
North American Premiere

Erupcja | Pete Ohs | USA/Poland
World Premiere

Exit 8 | Genki Kawamura | Japan
North American Premiere

Follies | Eric K. Boulianne | Canada
North American Premiere

Girl | Shu Qi | Taiwan
North American Premiere

Good Boy | Jan Komasa | Poland/UK
World Premiere

Hamlet | Aneil Karia | UK
Canadian Premiere

Honey Bunch | Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Dusty Mancinelli | Canada
Starring: Grace Glowicki, Ben Petrie, Kate Dickie, Jason Isaacs, India Brown
Diana’s attentive and devoted husband, Homer, has taken her from her hospital bed to a remote experimental trauma retreat. After an accident left her with crippling pain and memory loss, this might be their last hope that she’ll get better. Farah, Diana’s personal physician, promises that with the use of Dr. Tréphine’s cutting-edge therapies and with Homer’s helping hand, she will make a full recovery — she’ll feel like her old self again. Homer is enthusiastic about her progress, but the more treatment she undergoes the less Diana feels like herself. When the ritualistic exercises intensify, Diana experiences haunting visions and begins to notice strange changes in her husband’s behaviour. Whispered conversations behind closed doors, going missing for long periods, and his insistence she is recovering even though she feels worse. As troubling memories from her relationship begin to come vividly back to her, Diana must confront the possibility that her recovery may come at a cost far greater than she imagined—one that threatens to unravel a sinister truth about her marriage.
North American Premiere

I Swear | Kirk Jones | UK
World Premiere

In Search of The Sky | Jitank Singh Gurjar | India
World Premiere

Irkalla: Gilgamesh’s Dream | Mohamed Jabarah Al-Daradji | Iraq/United Arab Emirates/France/UK/Qatar/Saudi Arabia
North American Premiere

Left-Handed Girl | Shih-Ching Tsou | Taiwan/France/USA/UK
North American Premiere

Little Amélie or the Character of Rain | Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han | France
North American Premiere

Lucky Lu | Lloyd Lee Choi | USA
North American Premiere

Mama | Or Sinai | Israel/Poland/Italy
North American Premiere

Memory of Princess Mumbi | Damien Hauser | Kenya/Switzerland/Saudi Arabia
North American Premiere

Milk Teeth | Mihai Mincan | Romania/France/Denmark/Greece/Bulgaria
North American Premiere

Miroirs No. 3 | Christian Petzold | Germany
North American Premiere

Motor City | Potsy Ponciroli | USA
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Alan Ritchson, Ben Foster, Amar Chadha-Patel, Ben McKenzie, Lionel Boyce
In 1970s Detroit, John Miller falls in love with a local gangster’s girl. In retaliation, the gangster uses his corrupt police connections to send the innocent man to prison. Ruined, Miller plots a revenge campaign against the man who took his life and love away.
North American Premiere

My Father’s Shadow | Akinola Davies Jr. | UK/Nigeria
North American Premiere

New Years Rev | Lee Kirk | USA
World Premiere

Nomad Shadow | Eimi Imanishi | USA/Spain/France
World Premiere

Olmo | Fernando Eimbcke | USA/Mexico
North American Premiere

Orphan | László Nemes | Hungary/France/Germany/UK
North American Premiere

Palimpsest: the Story of a Name | Mary Stephen | France/Hong Kong/Taiwan
World Premiere

Renoir | Chie Hayakawa | Japan/France/Singapore/Philippines/Indonesia/Qatar
North American Premiere

Saipan | Lisa Barros D’Sa, Glenn Leyburn | Ireland/UK
World Premiere

Space Cadet | Kid Koala | Canada
North American Premiere

The Blue Trail | Gabriel Mascaro | Brazil/Mexico/Chile/Netherlands
North American Premiere

The Condor Daughter | Álvaro Olmos Torrico | Bolivia/Peru/Uruguay
World Premiere

The Cost of Heaven | Mathieu Denis | Canada
Over the years, Nacer Belkacem has built what appears to be an enviable life: a loving father, happy husband, model employee, and respected member of his community. But beneath the surface, the cracks are starting to show. Buried in debt from overspending and risky investments, Nacer finds himself at a breaking point. With few options left, he devises a desperate plan to claw his way back. After all—you only get one shot at earning your place in heaven.
World Premiere

The Fox King | Woo Ming Jin | Malaysia/Indonesia
World Premiere

The Last One for The Road | Francesco Sossai | Italy/Germany
North American Premiere

The Last Viking | Anders Thomas Jensen | Denmark/Sweden
North American Premiere

The Little Sister | Hafsia Herzi | France/Germany
North American Premiere

The Love That Remains | Hlynur Pálmason | Iceland/Denmark/Sweden/France
North American Premiere

The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo | Diego Céspedes | Chile/France
North American Premiere

The President’s Cake | Hasan Hadi | Iraq/USA/Qatar
North American Premiere

The Sun Rises On Us All | Cai Shangjun | China
North American Premiere

Two Prosecutors | Sergei Loznitsa | France/Germany/Netherlands/Latvia/Romania/Lithuania
North American Premiere

Under The Same Sun | Ulises Porra | Dominican Republic/Spain
World Premiere

Unidentified | Haifaa Al Mansour | Saudi Arabia
World Premiere

Wasteman | Cal McMau | UK
World Premiere

Whitetail | Nanouk Leopold | Netherlands/Belgium/Ireland
World Premiere

Youngblood | Hubert Davis | Canada
World Premiere

The 50th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, presented by Rogers, runs September 4–14, 2025.