Five films lead the early selections for this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. TIFF announced today that new films by Steven Soderbergh, Alejandro Amenábar, Sung-hyun Byun, Nia Costa, and Chandler Levack will have their world premieres in the Special Presentations programme. They join the previously announced selection John Candy: I Like Me, which will screen as the opening gala for TIFF’s 50th edition when the festival kicks off September 4.
Soderbergh is no stranger to the festival, having premiered films like The Informant! (2010), The Laundromat (2019), and Presence (2024) at TIFF. His new film The Christophers tells of the children of a late forger who piece together a posthumous work to better understand their father. The film stars Ian McKellen, Michaela Coel, and Baby Reindeer breakout Jessica Gunning.
Amenábar, meanwhile, returns to TIFF with The Captive, a historical epic about Don Quixote author Miguel de Cervantes. Amenábar was last at the festival with 2019’s While at War and previously hit up Toronto with Agora (2009) and The Sea Inside (2004), which went on to win the Academy Award for Best International Feature.
Speaking of Oscars, Nia DaCosta’s Hedda marks one title that will have eyes on it as award season kicks off. The Candyman and Marvels director’s take on Ibsen’s famous play has lots of anticipation brewing for Tessa Thompson’s turn as Hedda Gabler. The film also stars festival favourite Nina Hoss.
The line-up also marks a Toronto debut for South Korean director Sung-hyun Byun. He’ll present his sixth feature Good News at the festival. Plot details are under wraps.
And on the home front, Levack’s sophomore film Mile End Kicks (pictured) follows her hit debut feature I Like Movies with a loosely autobiographical story about a Toronto arts journalist who moves to Montreal and becomes torn between two lovers. Mile End Kicks will open the Special Presentations slate.
“These first five films of our Official Selection reflect the innovation, heart, and global perspective that have made our Festival a home for great cinema over the past 50 editions,” said TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey in a statement. “We’re excited to kick-off our Special Presentations with Chandler Levack’s Mile End Kicks, a young, Canadian director who has very close ties to TIFF in addition to these established directors. We can’t wait to share more in the weeks ahead as we celebrate this historic year with audiences and filmmakers from around the world.”
TIFF also announced that venues for this year’s festival include TIFF Lightbox, Roy Thomson Hall, the Visa Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre, Cineplex’s Scotiabank Theatre Toronto and its knee-crunch reclining seats, Glenn Gould Studio at the Canadian Broadcast Centre, Cinema Park at David Pecaut Square, and the vertiginous butt-number called the Royal Alexandra Theatre. Additional titles will be announced leading up to the festival.
