The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is celebrating its 50th this year! For all these years, it’s been lighting up our city with films that entertain, challenge, and spark endless conversations. What started as a showcase has grown into one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world—drawing filmmakers, cinephiles, industry powerhouses, and yes… plenty of star power too!
With such a wide range of films across every genre imaginable, the real challenge for us TIFF veterans (can we call ourselves TIFF’ers yet?) is deciding which titles to see—and when. Honestly, half the fun is in the planning…and who’s still doing the pirate noises with me?
Here at Toronto Guardian, we’ve got our eyes peeled for the Canadian talent on the lineup—whether behind the camera or on screen. For TIFF 2025 (aka #TIFF50), here are a few picks that immediately caught our attention.
Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery: Directed by Ally Pankiw
This galvanizing documentary from director Ally Pankiw (I Used To Be Funny) takes us behind the scenes of Sarah McLachlan’s legendary all-women music festival and features interviews with performers including Bonnie Raitt, Erykah Badu, Olivia Rodrigo, and Emmylou Harris.
John Candy: I like Me: Directed by Colin Hanks
Featuring candid testimonies from John Candy’s friends and family — including Steve Martin, Tom Hanks, Catherine O’Hara, and more — Colin Hanks’ wildly entertaining documentary celebrates one of the most beloved comedic actors of our time.
Still Single: Masaki Saito: Directed by Jamal Burger, Jukan Tateisi
This up-close and personal film brings viewers into the unpredictable and fascinating world of 2 Michelin-star Omakase Chef Masaki Saito, Toronto’s sushi superstar. His drive and energy is fuelled with passion in this entertaining film.
&SONS: Directed by Pablo Trapero
This adaptation of David Gilbert’s 2013 critically acclaimed novel, co-written by Toronto’s own Sarah Polley, stars Oscar nominee Bill Nighy as an aging literary superstar who wakes up one day believing he is near the end of his life and summons his sons. His announcement is far stranger than anything dreamed up in his revered novels.
Degrassi: Whatever It Takes: Directed by Lisa Rideout
This documentary celebrates the groundbreaking legacy of Degrassi, a fearless teen drama that tackled taboo topics and changed TV forever, while uncovering the behind-the-scenes tensions and personal sacrifices that shaped Canada’s most iconic teen television franchise. The film features interviews and insights from creator Linda Schuyler, executive producer Stephen Stohn, cast of the Degrassi universe including Dayo Ade, Stefan Brogren, Amanda and Maureen Deiseach, Aubrey Drake Graham, Shenae Grimes-Beech, and more.
Steal Away: Directed by Clement Virgo
Director Clement Virgo returns with a bold, mesmerizing, and erotically charged thriller that’s part fairy tale, part fever dream. It tells the story of a pair of young women the film’s subtitle calls “two princesses.” Fanny, a sheltered teenager whose knowledge of the world barely extends beyond the stately manor house belonging to her glamorous mother, which is located in a mysterious country. Cécile, a charismatic visitor who’s one of countless people seeking asylum from the conflicts that consume this alternate and highly stylized reality.
Peak Everything (Amor Apocalypse): Directed by Anne Émond
Writer-director Anne Émond has reinvented the romantic comedy for the age of ecological anxiety. Winsomely pairing Patrick Hivon and Piper Perabo , Peak Everything suggests that there is no better time to open your heart than when the world seems on the cusp of collapse.
There Are No Words: Directed by Min Sook Lee
This deeply personal documentary from hometown filmmaker Min Sook Lee follows the trail of grief left behind when her mother died by suicide when she was a preteen. Her journey to find out more about who her mother was takes her through hometown Toronto and ancestral South Korea. Along the way she speaks to her father, a former intelligence officer; her maternal uncle; and her mother’s old neighbours.
Lucky Lu: Directed by Lloyd Lee Choi
Lucky Lu stars global powerhouse Chang Chen as our guide into the intricate social network of delivery drivers in New York City; when in a terrible stroke of luck, he finds out his e-bike has been stolen. With his wife (Fala Chen)and daughter (Carabelle Manna Wei) en route all the way from Asia, he rushes against the clock and around the city cashing in old favors and digging up stories and ghosts from the past.
Good Fortune: Directed by Aziz Ansari
Actor-writer-director Aziz Ansari co-stars with Keanu Reeves, Seth Rogen, Sandra Oh, and Keke Palmer in this hilarious modern fantasy in which the angel Gabriel, dissatisfied with performing minor acts of divine intervention, attempts to improve the lives of several struggling mortals.
Meadowlarks: Directed by Tasha Hubbard
Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie: Directed by Matt Johnson
They were never in time to book a gig at The Rivoli, then one day… they weren’t in their time at all. From Matt Johnson (BlackBerry) and Jay McCarrol’s cult comedy series comes an adventure 17 years in the making.
While the Grass Grows: A Diary in Seven Parts: Directed by Peter Mettler
A rapturous chronicle of the miracles contained in everyday things and occurrences, by award-winning filmmaker Peter Mettler (Gambling, Gods and LSD, Picture of Light, The End of Time, Top of His Head). His film offers a generous space to expose and embrace the fragility and profound nature of relationships, where reflections on the human condition and our environment flow together in a stream of consciousness.
100 Sunsets: Directed by Kunsang Kyirong
A Parkdale apartment complex becomes a place of intrigue, desire, and deceit in Kunsang Kyirong’s stunning mystery drama.
Mile End Kicks: Directed by Chandler Levack
A bright romantic comedy starring Barbie Ferreira as Grace, a young music critic who moves to Montreal to figure out life and love. Inspired by Levack’s own life experiences and set again the backdrop of the music scene, Mile End Kicks explores what it means to e a young woman navigating identity, ambitions and relationships in the entertainment world.
Dinner with Friends: Directed by Sasha Leigh Henry
Sasha Leigh Henry’s feature debut brings viewers inside a fractured group of eight longtime friends who intermittently come together for dinner parties to share in the joys and pains of being adults today.
The Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 4 to 14, 2025. Watch for special events, talks with stars, Festival activations, and so much more this year! Full schedule of films and tickets can be found at tiff.net
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All pictures courtecy of TIFF
