#TIFF25: SHORT CUTS PROGRAMME ANNOUNCEMENT FOR 2025 TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

TIFF’s Short Cuts programme returns for TIFF 50 with a compelling slate of 48 short films representing 28 countries – including 20 Canadian titles. This year’s programme showcases TIFF’s expansive curatorial vision across seven presentations, including Strange Cuts, the Midnight Madness-adjacent strand introduced in 2024. The 50th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, presented by Rogers, will take place September 4–14, 2025.

The Best International and Best Canadian Short Film Awards are joined by a third honour this year: the Best Animated Short Film Award evaluated by a panel of three Short Cuts Jurors. This year they are are rising cinematographer Ashley Iris Gill (Black Community Mixtapes), Marcel Jean, Artistic Director of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and Executive Director of the Cinémathèque québécoise, and Canadian actor, writer, and director Connor Jessup (whose short film Julian and the Wind had its World Premiere at last year’s Festival).

Hear from Short Cuts Co-Lead Programmer Sonja Baksa:

Programme highlights include the World Premieres of Dust to Dreams by acclaimed actor Idris Elba; The Contestant from duo Patrick Xavier Bresnan and Ivete Lucas (The Passing, TIFF Short Cuts ‘23), featuring David Hasselhoff; and DISC by Cannes alum Blake Winston Rice, co-written by and starring Victoria Ratermanis and Jim Cummings. Joecar Hanna’s Talk Me, executive produced by Spike Lee, makes its North American premiere, as does The Non-Actor starring Maya Hawke and Victoria Pedretti. The documentary All the Empty Rooms from Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning filmmaker Joshua Seftel, executive produced by Adam McKay, will have its International Premiere.

Additional Short Cut programme highlights:

Ten animations across the seven-programme lineup, including Cannes, Annecy and Venice hits like Water Girl by Sandra Desmazières, The Girl Who Cried Pearls from Oscar-nominated Canadian animators Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, and Praying Mantis from the team of Yonfan (No. 7 Cherry Lane, TIFF ‘19) and Joe Hsieh.

Returns from TIFF alumni, including Rich Williamson and Shasha Nakhai (Scarborough, TIFF ‘21) with short satire Bots; Kelly Fyffe-Marshall (When Morning Comes, TIFF ‘22) with sharply scripted drama Demons; Healer from Chelsea McMullan (Swan Song, TIFF ‘23) in collaboration with Amar Wala (Shook, TIFF ‘24); A South Facing Window by Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir (City of Wind, TIFF ‘23, Snow in September, TIFF ‘22); and A Soft Touch by Heather Young (Murmur, TIFF ‘19, Milk, TIFF ‘17).

Award-winning standouts from the festival circuit, such as I’m Glad You’re Dead Now (Cannes 2025 short film Palme d’Or Winner) by Tawfeek Barhom and Ali (Cannes 2025 Special Jury Mention) by Adnan Al Rajeev.

Strange Cuts’ sophomore lineup, with genre hybrids including the deliciously twisted psychedelic animation UM by Nieto, cheeky micro satire Marriaginalia by Hannah Cheesman, and the absurdist wonder Thanks to Meet You! from Richard Hunter.

Compelling documentaries like seven-minute-long, visually striking short Divers by Georgie Wood and the whimsical Asparagus Bear from Ivan Grgur, produced by the Oscar-nominated director and last year’s Cannes short film Palme d’Or winner, Nebojša Slijepčević.

TIFF debuts from emerging Canadian filmmakers:

-Jazz Infernal, an upbeat ode to the roots of jazz music from Will Niava

Ramón Who Speaks to Ghosts, a delightful mockumentary by Shervin Kermani

-The Year of the Dragon, a tender drama about the sacrifices of motherhood from Giran Findlay-Liu

-ripe, a drama about family duty from Solara Thanh Bình Đặng

-Karupy, an absurd family drama from Canadian Film Centre Director Labs alum Kalainithan Kalaichelvan

-Klee, a prairie-gothic sci-fi that flips the script on colonization, from Saskatchewan-based Métis filmmaker Gavin Baird

-Poster Boy, a cutthroat look at the ’90s boyband world by India Opzoomer, who is also in TIFF’s Directors Lab this year

Short Cuts Co-Lead Mariam Zaidi’s insights:

Short Cuts Programme 1 (in alphabetical order)

A Small Fiction of My Mother in Beijing | Dorothy Sing Zhang | China
World Premiere

Agapito | Arvin Belarmino, Kyla Danelle Romero | Philippines
North American Premiere

DISC | Blake Winston Rice | United States of America
World Premiere

Healer | Chelsea McMullan | Canada
World Premiere

Jazz Infernal | Will Niava | Canada
World Premiere

Ramón Who Speaks to Ghosts | Shervin Kermani | Spain/Canada/Mexico
World Premiere

The Girl Who Cried Pearls | Chris Lavis, Maciek Szczerbowski | Canada
North American Premiere

Short Cuts Programme 2 (in alphabetical order)

Ambush | Yassmina Karajah | Jordan/Canada
World Premiere

Bots | Rich Williamson | Canada
World Premiere

I Fear Blue Skies | Salar Pashtoonyar | Canada
World Premiere

Not Scared, Just Sad | Isabelle Mecattaf | Lebanon/Bulgaria
World Premiere

Talk Me | Joecar Hanna | Spain/United States of America
North American Premiere

Water Girl | Sandra Desmazières | France/Netherlands/Portugal
North American Premiere

Short Cuts Programme 3 (in alphabetical order)

A South Facing Window | Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir | France/Mongolia
North American Premiere

Asparagus Bear | Ivan Grgur | Croatia
World Premiere

Demons | Kelly Fyffe-Marshall | Canada
World Premiere

Earworm | Patrik Eklund | Sweden
International Premiere

Sea Star | Tyler Mckenzie Evans | Canada
World Premiere

The Non-Actor | Eliza Barry Callahan | United States of America
North American Premiere

What We Leave Behind | Jean-Sébastien Hamel, Alexandra Myotte | Canada
North American Premiere

Short Cuts Programme 4 (in alphabetical order)

Ali | Adnan Al Rajeev | Bangladesh/Philippines
North American Premiere

Dust to Dreams | Idris Elba | Nigeria
World Premiere

Fiction Contract | Carolyn Lazard | United States of America
International Premiere

More Than Happy | Wei Keong Tan | Singapore
World Premiere

ripe | Solara Thanh Bình Đặng | Canada/Vietnam
World Premiere

To the Woods | Agnès Patron | France
North American Premiere

Year of the Dragon | Giran Findlay-Liu | Canada
World Premiere

Short Cuts Programme 5 (in alphabetical order)

Arguments in Favor of Love | Gabriel Abrantes | Portugal
North American Premiere

Dish Pit | Anna Hopkins | Canada
Canadian Premiere

I’m Glad You’re Dead Now | Tawfeek Barhom | France/Greece/Palestine
North American Premiere

Karupy | Kalainithan Kalaichelvan | Canada
World Premiere

Once in a Body | María Cristina Pérez González | Colombia/United States of America
North American Premiere

Pink Light | Harrison Browne | Canada
World Premiere

Poster Boy | India Opzoomer | Canada
World Premiere

The Contestant | Patrick Xavier Bresnan | United States of America/Germany
World Premiere

Short Cuts Programme 6 (in alphabetical order)

A Soft Touch | Heather Young | Canada
World Premiere

All the Empty Rooms | Joshua Seftel | United States of America
International Premiere

Divers | Geordie Wood | United States of America
North American Premiere

Niimi | Dana Solomon | Canada
World Premiere

Permanent Guest | Sana Zahra Jafri | Pakistan
World Premiere

The Death of the Fish | Eva Lusbaronian | France
North American Premiere

Strange Cuts

Klee | Gavin Baird | Canada
World Premiere

Marriaginalia | Hannah Cheesman | Canada
Marriaginalia is a surreal portrait of married life told across a day in three parts. A couple navigates life’s smaller ruptures — the world distorts, the body surprises — but their bond holds, serene and slightly off-kilter.
World Premiere

Praying Mantis | Joe Hsieh | Taiwan/Hong Kong
North American Premiere

Quietness | Gonçalo Almeida | Spain
World Premiere

Thanks To Meet You! | Richard Hunter | United Kingdom
World Premiere

The Veil | Gabriel Motta | Brazil
World Premiere

UM | Nieto | France
World Premiere

2025 Short Cuts Awards Jury

Ashley Iris Gill

Ashley Iris Gill is a rising cinematographer whose intimate, emotive style shapes acclaimed works like the Canadian Screen Award winner Black Community Mixtapes, Sundance’s Thriving, and Scaring Women At Night (TIFF Short Cuts ‘22). She has collaborated with many brands including Nike, Mercedes, and BMO, while also passionately advocating for BIPOC and 2SLGBTQ+ communities in film.

Marcel Jean

Marcel Jean has been the Artistic Director of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival since 2012 and the Executive Director of the Cinémathèque québécoise since 2015. He is the author of several books on animation and Canadian cinema, and from 1999 to 2005 he was an executive producer at the NFB French program animation studio.

Connor Jessup

Connor Jessup is a Canadian actor, writer, and director, best known for his leading roles in Netflix’s Locke & Key, ABC’s American Crime, and the independent film Closet Monster (winner, Best Canadian Feature Film, TIFF ’15). As a filmmaker, Jessup’s short films have screened at the Festival as well as the Berlinale, Clermont-Ferrand, Palm Springs, FNC and many other festivals.

Tickets go on sale to TIFF Members by level beginning on Friday, August 15. For more details, visit tiff.net/join. The full Festival schedule will be released on Tuesday, August 12. The 50th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, presented by Rogers, runs September 4–14, 2025.