The Toronto International Film Festival celebrates its fiftieth birthday this year, but by no means are they riding on cruise control. Even as they welcome dozens of stars on the red carpet, preparations are underway for the launch of a full-fledged market in 2026. It’ll be the third on the calendar attached to major festivals, and following Berlin and Cannes, it will give buyers and dealmakers an opportunity to meet in the autumn. Meanwhile, Canada, much like the rest of the globe, is grappling with an ongoing trade war with the United States, and the ramifications on the industry are sure to be a major topic of discussion.
Those conversations, however, will be a sidebar to TIFF’s consistently well-curated lineup, which brings together the best films from the circuit along with a plethora of highly-anticipated world premieres. It can be a scramble and a struggle to grab tickets to the A-list attractions, but the secret of the festival’s programing are the titles that go beyond the big names. This year, EFP (European Film Promotion) is supportng a terrific lineup of adventurous and ambitious European cinema waiting to be discovered by curious cinephiles.
Arriving in Toronto are a trio of hot titles from Cannes that are already angling for major Oscar play. First up is Joachim Trier’s Grand Prix winning Sentimental Value, the director’s reunion with his The Worst Person in the World Star star Renate Reinsve. Norway’s near universally-adored candidate for Best International Feature chronicles a stage actor grappling with family and depression.
Sweden will be swinging for the golden statue with their selection, Eagles of the Republic, starring Fares Fares. The conclusion of director Tarik Saleh’s Cairo trilogy follows a movie star who is wrangled into starring in a propaganda film for the government. Lastly is Hlynur Palmason’s The Love That Remains, which will represent Iceland during the awards season. Taking a detour from his tougher works like Godland and A White, White Day, the filmmaker chronicles a family wrestling with divorce with a fantastical and comic touch.
Boarding a flight from Venice is the latest team-up from director Anders Thomas Jensen and star Mads Mikkelsen. The Last Viking is a dark comedy about a man who must deal with his mentally unstable brother in order to recover the loot from a bank robbery.
Sharp takes on social media and content creation make their debut in Toronto with Egghead Republic and Babystar. The former from writing and directing team Pella Kagerman and Hugo Lilja follows an aspiring illustrator who finds herself embedded with a documentary crew from a Vice-like media empire where the truth becomes malleable. The latter from filmmaker Joscha Bongard follows a teenager in a family of influencers who begins to see the dark side of getting clicks.
Stories based on real life figures arrive in the shape of Franz, Agnieszka Holland’s ambitious chronicle of the life of Kafka. Cato Kusters tracks a beautiful and tragic queer romance in Julian. Meanwhile, Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn detail the battle between soccer star Roy Keane and manager Mick McCarthy in Saipan starring Steve Coogan.
Thrillers are also on offer in some intriguing flavors. Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough star in Jan Komasa’s Good Boy, about an out-of-control hooligan who gets kidnapped and chained up in the house of an otherwise ordinary suburban family. Lesley Manville stars in the neo-noir Winter of the Crow, an adaptation of Nobel Prize-winner Olga Tokarczuk’s story set in early ‘80s Poland. Meanwhile, trauma and secrets of the past boil to the surface in Nanouk Leopold’s Whitetail.
Rounding out EFP’s strong slate of titles are Valentyn Vasyanovych’s clever, near future imagination of post-war Ukraine in To The Victory! A man endures brutal, faith-based drug rehab in Goran Stankovic’s raw drama Our Father. And in The Currents, Milagros Mumenthaler unfolds the story of a woman who becomes disconnected from her career and family.
Augmented by director talks, special events, and Festival Street fun, TIFF is once again pulling out all the stops for their anniversary year.
The 50th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 4th to 14th.
