The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has announced its full lineup. This year’s TIFF will showcase a total of 291 films (209 features, 6 Classics, 10 Primetime, and 66 shorts).

As in previous years, I have put together a Hye’s Picks list for this year’s festival. This personally curated list includes films from most of the programmes at TIFF.

Hye’s Picks 

The full list of films is here for you.

Aki – TIFF Docs – Dir. Darlene Naponse

Set on Atikameksheng Anishnawbek (formerly known as Whitefish Lake), this visual art documentary follows the seasons in director Darlene Naponse’s home community in Northern Ontario.

Barrio Triste – Centrepiece – Dir.  STILLZ 

Music video director STILLZ makes a stunning feature debut with a trippy, found footage–style descent into ’90s Medellín. Backed by ARCA’s electrifying score, Barrio Triste follows four teens as they document their own rowdiness in a hauntingly poetic portrait of violence and loneliness.

Bouchra – Platform – Dirs. Orian Barki & Meriem Bennani 

Shot using 3D animation, Orian Barki and Meriem Bennani’s singular and affecting debut feature Bouchra combines documentary techniques with an inventive narrative structure, exploring the relationship between Bouchra, a queer Moroccan Coyote filmmaker, and her cardiologist mother (also a Coyote), who lives in Casablanca.

The Condor Daughter (La hija cóndor) – Centrepiece – Dir. Alvaro Olmos Torrico

In the Bolivian Andes, a young woman inherits the sacred art of midwifery but dreams of conquering the city with her voice, in this breathtaking story of tradition, ambition, and carving your own destiny.

Ghost School – Discovery – Dir. Seemab Gul

Ten‑year‑old Rabia defies rural superstition and bureaucratic neglect to uncover why her school abruptly closed. Untangling eerie rumours, corrupt local power, and silence, she undertakes a solitary, courageous search for truth and justice.

Junk World – Midnight Madness – Dir. Takahide Hori

A surprise attack on a joint expedition between humans and their emancipated clones becomes the freaky fulcrum for a dimension-hopping, time-travel fable set over a millennia before Takahide Hori’s original subterranean stop-motion animated opus, Junk Head.

Little Lorraine – Discovery – Dir. Andy Hines

A small town in Cape Breton becomes home to an international drug smuggling ring, featuring Stephen Amell, Stephen McHattie, Sean Astin and Colombian musician J Balvin.

Modern Whore – TIFF Docs – Dir. Nicole Bazuin

Andrea Werhun and Nicole Bazuin challenge toxic misconceptions about sex work and sex workers with great audacity and high style. This is a hybrid documentary that reimagines popular portrayals of sex work to stylishly explore the experiences of Toronto sex worker Andrea Werhun.

Nika & Madison – Discovery – Dir. Eva Thomas
A fateful encounter with the police propels two estranged friends to reevaluate their relationship, in Eva Thomas’ thoughtful and urgent debut.

Nuestra Tierra (Landmarks) – TIFF Docs – Dir. Lucrecia Martel 

Argentine auteur Lucrecia Martel (Zama, TIFF ’17) makes her first foray into feature documentary filmmaking with this haunting investigation into the killing of an Indigenous community leader and its relationship to the larger, centuries-old story of colonialism and erasure.

Orwell: 2+2=5 – TIFF Docs – Dir. Raoul Peck

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro) takes a deep dive into the writing of George Orwell (1984) to explore its potent relevancy to our current times.

Out Standing – Discovery – Dir. Mélanie Charbonneau

The story of Sandra Perron, Canada’s first woman infantry officer, yields a compelling drama that’s as tenacious as its subject.

A Sámi Wedding – Primetime – Dirs. Åse Kathrin Vuolab & Pål Jackman

In Kautokeino, Garen endures a loveless marriage and an unappreciative family. When her son marries into a wealthy reindeer-herding family, she sees a chance to rise by arranging the perfect wedding. Enlisting her chaotic siblings, she races against time. What could go wrong?

Uiksaringitara (Wrong Husband) – Special Presentations – Dir. Zacharias Kunuk

Seamlessly blending the supernatural with verité realism, Uiksaringitara (Wrong Husband) follows a boy, Sapa (Haiden Angutimarik), and a girl, Kaujak (Theresia Kappianaq), whose union in marriage is promised by their families from birth.

With Hasan in Gaza (With Hasan in Gaza preceded by It’s So Beautiful Here) – Wavelengths – Dir. Kamal Aljafari

Constructed from three MiniDV tapes artist and filmmaker Kamal Aljafari recorded in 2001, when he visited the Gaza Strip to try locate a former cellmate, With Hasan in Gaza is a reflection on loss and memory, and a paean to the Palestinian people.

Short Film – It’s So Beautiful Here – Dir. Basma al-Sharif

Originally presented as an installation, this raw, haunting short by Basma al-Sharif depicts a horse ride at dusk on a farm in Gaza through enveloping sights and sounds — serene and devastating at once.

Additional Details

If you are curious about my longer Short List, you can click here. You can use TIFFR.com to create your own lists as well.

The 50th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, presented by Rogers, will take place September 4–14, 2025. All TIFF Official Selection titles, scheduling and ticketing details are live on tiff.net.