TIFF March/April 2025 Programming Highlights

TORONTO — TIFF Cinematheque will feature retrospectives on Swedish actor-turned-filmmaker Mai Zetterling, Bulgarian filmmaker Binka Zhelyazkova, and iconic Indo-Canadian filmmaker Deepa Mehta, plus special events and screenings throughout March and April, including Oscar-nominated films leading up to the awards, celebrations of International Women’s Day and more. TIFF’s month-long celebration of International Women's Day is supported by RBC.

TIFF’s Next Wave Film Festival returns April 10–13, bringing young audiences and creators together to explore new voices and perspectives in cinema. Stay tuned for more details!

Information is subject to change. Please visit tiff.net for up-to-date programming details. Tickets for March programming will be available for TIFF Members on Wednesday, February 12, and to the public on Friday, February 14. Tickets for April programming will be available for TIFF Members on Wednesday, March 19, and to the public on Friday, March 21.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS

TIFF’s month-long celebration of International Women's Day is supported by RBC

Taboo: Mai Zetterling on Film
February 28 – March 23
TIFF Cinematheque presents a centenary celebration marking the legacy of Swedish author, actor, and director Mai Zetterling (1925–1994) whose three-decade career traversed modalities, producing short films, documentaries, television episodes, and six feature-length films. After early international success in front of the camera acting in Alf Sjöberg’s Torment (1944) and Ingmar Bergman’s Music in Darkness (1948), Zetterling’s curious (and iconoclastic) sensibility led her to directing. From her incendiary debut feature Loving Couples (1964) onward, Zetterling’s bracingly frank depictions of women’s health, sexuality, and gender roles would be criticized and sometimes censored, but have emerged as a singular and fearless body of work that remains as transgressively urgent and necessary as it did then.

Unknown Legend: Binka Zhelyazkova
March 7–26
Banned and lauded, Binka Zhelyazkova was a singular voice in Eastern European cinema. This retrospective highlights her poetic, politically charged films — testaments to resistance, survival, women’s agency, and defiance in occupied Bulgaria. The series includes a complete overview of Zhelyazkova's six narrative feature films including: Life Flows Quietly By... (1957); We Were Young (1961); The Tied-Up Balloon (1967), which marked Zhelyazkova's first major international screening at Montreal's Expo ’67; The Last Word (1973); The Swimming Pool (1977); and The Big Night Bathe (1980).

See the North presented by MUBI

• March 11 (6:30pm): Manufactured Landscapes (2006) dir. Jennifer Baichwal

TIFF Family Films

• March 2 (4:30pm): Persepolis (2007) dir. Marjane Satrapi

From the Collection with Cameron Bailey

• March 4 (6:30pm): Mansfield Park (1999) dir. Patricia Rozema, 35mm print!

TIFF Next Wave Presents

• March 19 (6:30pm): Zola (2020) dir. Janicza Bravo

TIFF Cinematheque New and Restored

• March 21 (6:30pm): Compensation (1999) dir. Zeinabu irene Davis, with Pandemic Bread (2023) dir. Zeinabu irene Davis
  With director Zeinabu irene Davis attending

MDFF Selects

• March 27 (6:30pm): Fire of Wind (2024) dir. Marta Mateus

TIFF Advance Screening

• March 26, (6.30pm): Darkest Miriam dir. Naomi Jaye
  With director Naomi Jaye and writer Martha Baillie attending.

New Releases

• Opens March 7: Shepherds dir. Sophie Deraspe (Maison 4:3)
  2024 TIFF Official Selection - Special Presentations
  2024 Canada’s Top Ten list
  2024 TIFF - Best Canadian Feature Film Award
  2024 Vancouver International Film Festival Official Selection
  2024 Zurich Film Festival Official Selection
  2024 Cinemania Official Selection
  
  
• Opens March 14: Can I Get a Witness? dir. Ann Marie Fleming (Mongrel Media)
  2024 TIFF Official Selection - Special Presentations
  2024 Canada’s Top Ten list
  2024 Vancouver International Film Festival Official Selection
  2024 Calgary International Film Festival Official Selection
  2024 Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival Official Selection

TIFF CINEMATHEQUE PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS

Through the Fire: The Films of Deepa Mehta
April 4-23
Over her remarkable 30+ year career, Indo-Canadian writer-director Deepa Mehta has established herself as a bold, humanistic filmmaker. Renowned for her ability to craft deeply moving stories through a culturally hybrid perspective, this retrospective celebrates Mehta’s groundbreaking work, which gives voice to individuals’ capacity for resilience and hope in the face of profound marginalization. Films include: her feature debut Sam & Me (1991), her influential Elements trilogy Fire (1997), Earth (1998), and Water (2005), Bollywood/Hollywood (2002), Heaven on Earth (2008), Beeba Boys (2015), Anatomy of Violence (2016), and Funny Boy (2020).

Special Screenings

• March 1 (4pm): Central Station (1998) dir. Walter Salles
  Director Walter Salles’ film I’m Still Here is nominated this year at the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best International Feature Film, and Best Actress (Fernanda Torres)
• March 8 (7pm): The Last Angel of History with Edward George (1997) dir. John Akomfrah,
  Co-presented with The Music Gallery, with writer Edward George attending.
• March 13 (6:30pm): The Hours (2002) dir. Stephen Daldry
• March 18 (6:15pm): A Man of Integrity (2017) dir. Mohammad Rasoulof
  Director Mohammed Rasoulof’s film The Seed of the Sacred Fig is nominated this year for the Best International Feature Film Academy Award
• March 20 (6:45pm): Spider (2002) dir. David Cronenberg
  Spider star Ralph Fiennes’ performance in Conclave is nominated for an Academy Award this year for Best Actor
• March 25 (6:45pm): In Fabric (2018) dir. Peter Strickland
• March 28 – April 2: Blue Velvet (1986) dir. David Lynch

TIFF Cinematheque New and Restored

• April 5 (4pm): Leila and the Wolves (1984) dir. Heiny Srour
• April 6 (4pm): Gueule d’amour (1937) dir. Jean Grémillon
• April 19 (4pm): Batang West Side (2001) dir. Lav Diaz

TIFF Family Films

• April 20 (3:00pm): Easter Parade (1948) dir. Charles Walters

From the Collection with Cameron Bailey

• April 1 (6:30pm): Cremaster 3 (2002) dir. Matthew Barney, 35mm print!

Midnight Madness Presents

• April 19 (7pm): Screamers (1995) dir. Christian Duguay

See the North presented by MUBI

• April 8 (6:30pm): Mourir à tue-tête (1969) dir. Anne Claire Poirier

Wavelengths

• March 12 (6:30pm): Henry Fonda for President with Alexander Horwath (2024) dir. Alexander Horwath, Canadian Premiere
  Featuring video Q&A with TIFF Cinematheque Senior Curator Andréa Picard and director Alexander Horwath.
• April 9 (6:30pm): Infinite Returns curated by Suneil Sanzgiri (various filmmakers and artists)
  Infinite Returns curated by Suneil Sanzgiri is co-presented by TIFF Wavelengths, Images Festival and Mercer Union, Toronto as a complement to the exhibition Suneil Sanzgiri: An Impossible Address on view at Mercer Union from April 12 – June 14 , 2025.

TIFF SPECIAL EVENTS AND PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS

Participatory Screenings

• March 9, (1pm): Sing Along: Moana (2016) dirs. Ron Clements, John Musker

Silver Screenings presented by SHINGRIX

• April 4 (12pm): The Biggest Little Farm (2018) dir. John Chester

NEW RELEASES

2025 Academy Award Nominees

• Opens February 14: 2025 Oscar-Nominated Short Films: Live Action (Shorts International)
  A Lien dirs. Sam Cutler-Kreutz and David Cutler-Kreutz, 15 min., USA (in English)
  Anuja dir. Adam J. Graves, 22 min., USA (in Hindi)
  I’m Not a Robot dir. Victoria Warmerdam, 22 min., Belgium/Netherlands (in Dutch)
  The Last Ranger dir. Cindy Lee, 28 min., South Africa (in Xhosa)
  The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent dir. Nebojša Slijepčević, 13 min., Croatia (in Croatian)
  
  
• Opens February 14: 2025 Oscar-Nominated Short Films: Animated (Shorts International)
  Beautiful Men dir. Nicolas Keppens, 18 min., Belgium/France/Netherlands (in Flemish, Dutch, Turkish, and English)
  In the Shadow of the Cypress dirs. Hossein Molayemi and Shirin Sohani, 20 min., Iran (no dialogue)
  Magic Candies dir. Daisuke Nishio, 21 min., Japan (in Japanese)
  Wander to Wonder dir. Nina Gantz, 14 min., Netherlands/Belgium/France/UK (in English)
  Yuck! dir. Loïc Espuche, 13 min., France (in French)
  
  
• Opens February 14: 2025 Oscar-Nominated Short Films: Documentary (Shorts International)
  Death by Numbers dir. Kim A. Snyder, 33 min., USA (in English)
  I Am Ready, Warden dir. Smriti Mundhra, 37 min., USA (in English)
  Incident dir. Bill Morrison, 30 min., USA (in English)
  Instruments of a Beating Heart dir. Ema Ryan Yamazaki, 23 min., Japan (in Japanese)
  The Only Girl in the Orchestra dir. Molly O’Brien, 34 min., USA (in English)
  

2025 Academy Award Nominees - Screening One Night Only

• February 9: Emilia Perez dir. Jacques Audiard (Netflix)
  2024 TIFF Official Selection - Special Presentations
  Nominated for 12 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best International Feature Film, Best Original Song, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Sound, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling
  
  
• February 13: The Substance dir. Coralie Fargeat (MUBI)
  2024 TIFF Official Selection - Midnight Madness
  Nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling
  
  
• February 13: Flow dir. Gints Zilbalodis (filmswelike)
  Post-show Q&A with filmmaker Gints Zilbalodis
  2024 TIFF Official Selection - Centrepiece
  Nominated for two Oscars, including Best International Feature Film and Best Animated Feature Film
  
  
• February 16: Dune: Part Two dir. Denis Villeneuve (Warner Brothers)
  2024 TIFF Official Selection - Special Events
  Nominated for five Oscars, including Best Production Design, Best Cinematography, Visual Effects, Best Sound, and Best Picture
  
  
• February 18: Conclave dir. Edward Berger (Elevation Pictures)
  2024 TIFF Official Selection - Special Presentations
  Nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, Best Film Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress, Best Actor, Best Original Score, and Best Picture
  
  
• February 20: Anora dir. Sean Baker (Elevation Pictures)
  2024 TIFF Official Selection - Special Presentations
  Nominated for six Oscars, including Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Actress, Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, and Best Picture
  
  
• February 25: A Complete Unknown dir. James Mangold (Searchlight Pictures)
  Nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Costume Design, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Actor, Best Sound, Best Director, and Best Picture