What else will premiere at TIFF 2025 this September besides the fest’s opening night film, “John Candy: I Like Me“? A new announcement adds five more movies to the official selection of TIFF’s 50th edition, headlined by Nia DaCosta‘s “Hedda,” her upcoming adaptation of Henrik Ibsen‘s classic play, and Steven Soderbergh‘s “The Christophers.”
READ MORE: ‘John Candy: I Like Me’ Doc From Colin Hanks & Ryan Reynolds To Open TIFF 50th Edition
The other three announced titles are Alejandro Amenábar‘s “The Captive,” Sung-hyun Byun‘s “Good News,” and Chandler Levack‘s “Mile End Kicks.” All five newly added films will be world premieres and Special Presentation titles at TIFF 50, and post-screening Q&As for each. In addition, all five movies will be up for TIFF’s jury prizes, as well as the fest’s coveted People’s Choice Award and/or the International People’s Choice Award, a brand-new award in 2025. TIFF runs from September 4-14 this year, presented by Rogers.
“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 Cameron Bailey, CEO, TIFF in a press 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.”
“Hedda” is DaCosta’s first time at TIFF with a film, and her Ibsen adaptation is much-anticipated. Tessa Thompson stars in the modern update to the late 19th-century stage masterpiece as the title character, a bored newlywed torn between the lingering ache of a past love and the quiet suffocation of her present life. DaCosta’s film also stars Imogen Poots, Tom Bateman, Nicholas Pinnock, and Nina Hoss, and will get a brief theatrical run on October 22 before streaming on Prime Video on October 29.
As for Soderbergh, he’s no stranger to TIFF. “The Christophers” will be his tenth film to premiere at the festival, and the prolific director was in Toronto just last year for “Presence.” Soderbergh’s latest follows the estranged children of a once-famous artist who hire a forger to complete some of his unfinished works in a scheme to sell them and make some money after his death. Frequent Soderbergh collaborator Ed Solomon pens the script; they last worked together on the director’s Max drama “Full Circle.” Jessica Gunning, Ian McKellen, Michaela Cole, and James Corden star.
Meanwhile, “Mile End Kicks” sounds poised to be a favorite at this year’s festival. Set in the early 2010s Montreal music scene, Barbie Ferrera stars as a twenty-something music critic who gets romantically entwined with members of an indie band she decides to write about. Jay Baruchel also stars, as does Devon Bostick and “Red Rooms” breakout actress Juliette Gariépy. “Mile End Kicks” will be Levack’s third film at TIFF, after the 2017 short “We Forgot To Break Up” and 2022’s “I Like Movies.”
Amenábar’s “The Captive” stars Julio Peña as a young Miguel de Cervantes, before he wrote the timeless novel “Don Quixote.” The film follows Cervantes as a young navy soldier in 1575, wounded and taken captive in Algiers, as he vies to escape from prison, enthralling fellow prisoners with his storytelling. “The Captive” is Amenábar’s fourth title at TIFF, after 2004’s “The Sea Inside,” 2009’s ‘Agora,” and “While At War” in 2019.
Then there’s “Good News,” Sung-hyun Byun’s first time at TIFF. The pulse-pounding period-piece Korean thriller follows a group determined to land a hijacked plane by any means necessary. “Good News” will hit Netflix sometime after its TIFF world premiere.
Stay tuned for more TIFF titles as they’re announced. As noted earlier, the festival runs from September 4-14 this year.
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