Of the 75 films I have seen at TIFF 2025, these are the top standouts, in alphabetical order.
The following are the prize winners given out by TIFF,
Personal Best;
DIYA: Prix du Snag (Chad, France, Germany, Côte d’Ivoire 2025) ***½
Directed by Achille Ronaimou
Fast-paced with the urgency that the protagonist faces, DIYA is the local African term for the price of blood. Dane (Ferdinand Mbaissané, winner of the Best Actor award at FESPACO 2025), a driver for an NGO in the capital, has the misfortune to run over a schoolboy. His pregnant wife (Marina Ndormadjingar Solmem) runs to his aid to pay the hospital bills, but it’s too late: the child succumbs to his injuries, and his family summons Dane’s. He will be subjected to the diya, the blood debt, the payment of an exorbitant sum he doesn’t have.
Cleverly orchestrated, Diya puts us right at the heart of Dane’s torment: repaying the debt or languishing in prison far from his soon-to-be-born first child. Dane is a good person depicted in the film as one who is sympathetic to the child’s mother. It is a much scramble for funds as the director takes his audience through the colourful and informative journey of the villagers and people. All ends well with a surprise ending in what can be described as a well-orchestrated and entertaining yet powerful movie.
THE LAST VIKING (Denmark 2025) ****
Directed by Anders Thomas Andersen
THE LAST VIKING teams director Anders Thomas Andersen with Mads Mikkelsen after MEN & CHICKEN and RIDERS OF JUSTICE in yet another weird, violent, and fucked-up (but in a good way) movie. Mikkelsen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas play Anker and Manfred, brothers who are reunited after Anker’s years-long jail stint for a bank robbery. Since Manfred is the only one who knows where the loot is buried, Anker has no choice but to contend not only with his brother’s many psychological issues but the legacy of the traumas they suffered in their childhood. Andersen assembles a highly memorable gallery of misfits, miscreants, and many other unique individuals with their own foibles and fixations, one of which may involve re-forming the most famous pop band ever. Mikkelsen is simply marvellous as the mentally challenged John aka Manfred, who, if not jumping out of cars or windows, is trying to harm himself by stabbing his hand with fondue forks. Likely the most fucked up but entertaining movie of the year. And by the way, it is also ultra-violent.
NO OTHER CHOICE (South Korea 2025) ***½
Directed by Park Chan-wook
The film starts with a family group hug, and Man-soo has it all: a loving wife, two talented children, and two happy dogs. He even bought the beautiful forest-enclosed house where he grew up. Then, after 25 years of dedicated work for Solar Paper — where he was awarded Pulp Man of the Year in 2019 — Man-soo is suddenly given the axe. Soon, he is falling behind on his mortgage payments, and his wife Mi-ri insists they put the house up for sale. Man-soo is desperate to scoop a coveted position with Moon Paper, but he knows there are other job seekers who match his pedigree. So he hatches a plan: invent a phony paper company, reach out to each of his rivals, lure them into a meeting… and, one by one, dispatch the competition. It is a wicked and occasionally hilarious satire based on the novel THE AX by Donald Werstlake. Director Chan’s film takes its time to establish the plot, but it is all worth it in this deliciously wicked thriller.
NOVELLE VAGUE (FRANCE 2025) ****
Directed by Richard Linklater
Having spent several years writing for Cahiers du cinéma, Godard (Guillaume Marbeck), not yet 30, declares, “The best way to criticize a film is to make one.” So off he goes, convincing George de Beauregard (Bruno Dreyfürst) to fund a low-budget independent feature and whipping up a treatment — there was never a proper script — with fellow New Waver François Truffaut (Adrien Rouyard) based on a news item about a gangster and his girlfriend. A meticulously and handsomely delivered black and white homage to the French New Wave aka NOUVELLE VAGUE, sees the homage paid through the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s A BOUT DE SOUFFLE, also known in English as BREATHLESS. Cinephiles will definitely delight in all the film references as well as the depiction of New Wave greats like directors Claude Chabrol, Francois Truffaut, Agnes Varda and husband Jacques Demy. The film also depicts the idiosyncrasies of Godard, who shot BREATHELESS sans script and sand continuity, much to the chagrin of his financial backers, makeup artist and collaborators. Seberg wanted to quit many times, but Belmondo finds all this absolutely amusing.
OCA (Mexico/Argentina 2025) ***½
Directed by Karla Badillo
A young nun sets off on a poetic, mystical pilgrimage to save her dying congregation, encountering others whose own trials of faith, privilege, and contradiction mirror her haunting search for divine meaning in a fractured, material world. The film is described as Bunuel-ish for the reasons that the events in the film feel surreal and also for the religious overtones. The protagonist is a catholic nun who travels to San Vincente on a motorcycle. She is full of faith and believes that God has a plan not only for herself but also for others, especially those she meets on the way to a sort of pilgrimage. She encounters a variety of odd characters, including a wealthy femme fatale driven in her car by her trusty chauffeur, a pilgrimage of villagers hoping to meet the arch-bishop in San Vincente and also robbers who steal her motorcycle. OCA , the film title is a Spanish game in which there are twists and turns to get to the winning pots, just as the nun has to manoeuvre her way out of tricky situations. A very intriguing film with lots of intriguing characters and events.
OLMO (USA/Mexico 2025) ****
Directed by Fernando Eimbcke
14-year-old Olmo is going through adolescence.. The film begins mischievously with Olmo’s dream, and he steps inside a hot rod with his sexy teen neighbour. The toilet roll beside his bed shows him ready to finish off the dream with a happy ending. OLMO tells the story of his quest for sex with his neighbour, who needs a stereo for her party. To be invited, he has to steal and repair the broken one that belongs to his parents. His father is bedridden with MS, and his mother is stressed, overworking, and behind with 3 months' rent. The film is beautifully shot with the setting of 1979, bearing the mischievousness of the early John Hughes teen comedies, but this one has a message. Director Eimbcke balances his family drama and growing-up story with plenty of humour, while avoiding sentimentality and melodrama. Totally remarkable and delightful performances all round, especially from Aidan Uttapa as Olmo. Family is everything, even at the end of the film, when the mother still does not have enough money to pay the rent, when one knows everything is going to be all right.
A POET (Un Poeta) (Colombia/Germany/Sweden 2025) ****
Directed by Simón Mesa Soto
Coming right from Cannes, where A POET, in the Un Certain Regard section, won the Jury Prize, the film revolves around Óscar Restrepo, an aging poet who once had hopes of literary success but whose life has since drifted into obscurity, melancholy, and self-destructive habits. He lives with his mother, struggles with unemployment, and drowns some of his disappointments in alcohol. While teaching in a secondary school, he mentors Yurlady, a teenage student who shows raw talent in writing. But fate is not on his side, as things go south for the poor soul. A POET is tragedy in its most gruesome form, with Oscar brilliantly played like a monstrous troll by Ubeimar Ríos. Dream big but achieve chaos! One of the best of the festival!
SAIPAN (UK/Ireland 2025) ****
Directed by Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn
SAIPAN is the real-life drama behind star player Roy Keane’s rift with manager Mick McCarthy on the eve of the 2002 World Cup, Saipan is a story of ego, loyalty, and identity that resonates beyond the world of sports. What began as a dispute over professionalism and pre-tournament training conditions on the remote Pacific Island of Saipan escalated into a national reckoning, dividing a country where football can be sacred. It was a moment that transcended sport, sparking pub debates, tabloid frenzy, political commentary, and even parliamentary mentions. Steve Coogan delivers a riveting turn as McCarthy, opposite a formidable performance from Éanna Hardwicke as Keane. This is a film not only for those who love the game of football. What is most surprising is how the directors turn a story without a happy ending into an uplifting one. There are a lot of solid quotes in the film as well, with a standout confrontation scene between the two men.
THE SECRET AGENT (O AGENT SCRETO) (Brazil/France/Germany 2025) ***** Top 10
Directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho
Brazil, 1977. Marcelo, a technology expert in his early 40s, is on the run. He arrives in Recife ( seaside town in Brazil) during carnival week, hoping to reunite with his son, but soon realizes that the city is far from being the non-violent refuge he seeks. Marcelo is told by the police chief that perhaps 100 people will die during the carnival, a joke that carries on throughout the movie. Marcelo’s past is catching up with him, but he chooses to bring his life to a close with the satisfaction of spending the rest of his life with his son. His son is presently staying with Marcelo’s parents, who care very much about the boy.
Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho, who also wrote the script for the film, is a familiar name to many cinephiles and film critics, making his name in his 2012 multiple award-winning NEIGHBOURING SOUNDS, also set in his birthplace of Recife in North East Brazil, and also his recent 2023 documentary PORTRAITS OF GHOSTS. THE SECRET AGENT is a film the director reportedly wanted to make for years and it is not only an excellent film but one of the best to hit screens at both TIFF and in theatres.
The film pays homage to several films of the 70s when the film is set (actually 1977). Most noticeable is the 1975 Steven Spielberg’s JAWS. Recife is also a seaside town. Other films that can be noticed in Filho’s film include actor Jean-Paul Belmondo, most likely in Philippe De Broca’s 1964 film THAT MAN IN RIO.
The film suffers from a rather overlong epilogue, featuring a conversation between two individuals in a hospital, which is a bit of a letdown after a spy-like chase through the streets.
Actor Wagner Moura, who plays Marcelo in the film, also serves as one of the film’s producers. Some humour is provided by a cameo by Udo Kier who plays a German showing off his bullet scars on his leg. Some of the supporting cast provide terrific performances.
Director Filho keeps his audience guessing most of the time about what is happening. There is always a sense of intrigue and mystery from the film’s start when the hero, Marcelo, is driving through a gas station in which a deadman has been shot and covered with a blanket just outside the vicinity of the station at the film’s start to two sudden thugs suddenly appear out of the blue in pursuit of Marcelo.
THE SECRET AGENT has won multiple awards at Cannes, where it premiered. It runs a lengthy 160 minutes, but every minute is worth it. A major surprise, THE SECRET AGENT proves intrigue, mystery, action, some biting humour while reflecting the urgency of one’s times, whether the past and present, and how one needs to come to terms with one’s past, despite the risks involved.
STEVE (UK/Ireland 2025) ****
Directed by Tim Mielants
Reminiscent of the French classroom drama BETWEEN THE WALLS, done cinema-verite/doc style, or a more maverick styled TO SIR WITH LOVE, the film follows a head teacher STEVE (Cilian Murphy) working in troubled school of boys, somewhat before they become SCUM in a borstal Steve (Murphy) is the passionate head of a crumbling “last chance” reform school for teenage boys. With meagre resources, overstretched staff, and a mounting sense of futility, Steve must navigate one pivotal and precarious day made more tense by the arrival of a documentary news crew profiling the school, and the result may prove to be more exposé than commendation. The school is part institution and part last-ditch social experiment conducted in a shoddy rural manor house run by tired adults who believe their students still have something to offer the world. The boys, meanwhile, navigate an uneasy border between volatility and vulnerability. Mielants' score top marks in his storytelling technique using a combo of flashbacks and forwards, added by Murphy’s and Emily Watson’s stunning performances.
TORONTO — TIFF is announcing 12 awards today, including the Platform Award, TIFF’s only juried competition, and the coveted People’s Choice Awards presented by Rogers. This year’s awards include two exciting new additions: the International People’s Choice Award and the Short Cuts Award for Best Animated Short Film. As TIFF’s 50th edition comes to a close, the Festival is proud to have welcomed over 700,000 guests, nearly 2,000 accredited media, 6,000 Industry delegates, 1,200 screenings, and a stellar lineup of talent who graced 110 red carpets.
Audiences can catch this year’s People’s Choice Award–winning films at TIFF Lightbox screenings starting at noon today, with free tickets available to the public (visit here for more information).
PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARDS PRESENTED BY ROGERS
The 48th edition of TIFF’s People’s Choice Awards, presented by Rogers, presents the audience’s top titles at the Festival as voted by the viewing public. All feature films and Primetime series in TIFF’s Official Selection are eligible.
People’s Choice Award presented by Rogers: Hamnet, dir. Chloé Zhao
First runner-up: Frankenstein, dir. Guillermo del Toro
Second runner-up: Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, dir. Rian Johnson
International People’s Choice Award presented by Rogers: No Other Choice, dir. Park Chan-wook
First runner-up: Sentimental Value, dir. Joachim Trier
Second runner-up: Homebound, dir. Neeraj Ghaywan
People’s Choice Documentary Award presented by Rogers: The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue, dir. Barry Avrich
First runner-up: EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, dir. Baz Luhrmann
Second runner-up: You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution..., dir. Nick Davis
People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award presented by Rogers: Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, dir. Matt Johnson
First runner-up: Obsession, dir. Curry Barker
Second runner-up: The Furious, dir. Kenji Tanigaki
SHORT CUTS AWARDS
Short Cuts Awards are presented to the Best International Short Film, Best Canadian Short Film, and Best Animated Short Film, as awarded by the Short Cuts jury. Each of the three winning films will receive a bursary of $10,000 CAD. The 2025 jurors for the Short Cuts Awards are Ashley Iris Gill, Marcel Jean, and Connor Jessup.
Short Cuts Award for Best International Short Film:
Talk Me, dir. Joecar Hanna | Spain/USA
Short Cuts jury’s statement: “This film sparked one of the most interesting conversations around the jury table. Talk Me is bold in its portrayal of intimacy and the universal longing for connection. The characters fit so naturally into the film’s unique, evocative world that everything feels normal very quickly. Its cinematography is beautiful, delicate yet deliberate, each frame carefully crafted to draw us deeper into the story. By allowing the visuals to lead, the film creates an immersive experience of vulnerability and honesty. For its courage, craft, and sensitivity, the jury presents the Short Cuts Award for Best International Short Film to Joecar Hanna’s Talk Me.”
Honourable Mention:
Agapito, dirs. Arvin Belarmino & Kyla Danelle Romero | Philippines
Short Cuts jury’s statement: “For its formal precision, command of a delicate tone, poetic awareness of space and movement, and deeply personal reflections on family, the jury is thrilled to present an Honourable Mention to Arvin Belarmino and Kyla Danelle Romero’s remarkable Agapito. The jury also wants to acknowledge the brilliantly nuanced and committed performances of the film’s young cast.”
Short Cuts Award for Best Canadian Short Film:
The Girl Who Cried Pearls, dirs. Chris Lavis & Maciek Szczerbowski | Canada
Short Cuts jury’s statement: “In addition to highlighting the film’s daring technical achievement and sumptuous artistic direction, the jury also wants to recognize a fable about greed and the capacity of artists to create a fantastic world by the power of their narrative voice. The Short Cuts Award for Best Canadian Short Film goes to Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski for The Girl Who Cried Pearls.”
Honourable Mention:
A Soft Touch, dir. Heather Young
Short Cuts jury’s statement: “A Soft Touch really pierced our hearts. It finds a way to transform routine, everyday moments into a quietly devastating portrait of neglect and resilience. With searing precision and simplicity, the film illuminates how easily older folks can be overlooked, and in doing so, demands our attention, empathy, and accountability. The jury awards an Honourable Mention to Heather Young’s A Soft Touch.”
Short Cuts Award for Best Animated Short Film:
To the Woods, dir. Agnès Patron | France
Short Cuts jury’s statement: “This wordless journey into the bond between two siblings becomes a transcendent meditation on the mysteries of time and memory, love and loss, connection and transformation. Animated with lush, cosmic beauty and vibrating with tenderness and insight, the film plunges its viewer into deep, deep feeling. For its overwhelming artistry, luminous spirit, and soul-expanding sense of mystery, the jury presents the Short Cuts Award for Best Animated Short Film to Agnès Patron’s To the Woods. The jury also wants to note the film’s jaw-dropping sound design and the work of composer Pierre Oberkampf, whose score ranks among the best film music of recent years.”
FIPRESCI PRIZE
The FIPRESCI jury is awarding the International Critics Prize, dedicated to emerging filmmakers, to a debut feature film having its World Premiere in TIFF’s Discovery or Centrepiece programmes. The 2025 FIPRESCI jury members are: Katharina Dockhorn (Germany), Francisco Ferreira (Portugal), Jean-Philippe Guerand (France), Andy Hazel (Australia), and Justine Smith (Canada).
FIPRESCI Prize:
Forastera, dir. Lucía Aleñar Iglesias | Spain/Italy/Sweden
FIPRESCI jury’s statement: “Spanish cinema, long shaped by the exuberance of Pedro Almodóvar, has found a new distinctive voice in Lucía Aleñar Iglesias. Set on sun-drenched Mallorca, Forastera follows 16-year-old Cata, whose carefree family holiday is brought to a halt by the death of her grandmother. In her grief, the teenager takes on the older woman’s persona — wearing her clothes, adopting her gestures and silences. Aleñar Iglesias directs with restraint and precision, finding power in understatement. Performances from newcomer Zoe Stein and veteran Lluís Homar anchor the film’s dreamlike rhythms. What might sound slight becomes luminous: a meditation on an adolescent’s first encounter with death, and a ghost story about how the past lingers in the present. Forastera is a quietly assured debut, simple yet transformative, marking Aleñar Iglesias as a filmmaker the FIPRESCI jury would like to bet on.”
NETPAC AWARD
Presented by the Network for the Promotion of Asian Pacific Cinema, the NETPAC Award recognizes films specifically from the Asian and Pacific regions. The jury consists of three international community members selected by TIFF and NETPAC, who award the prize to the best Asian film by a first or second-time feature director. The 2025 NETPAC jury members are Dina Iordanova, Helen Lee, and Keoprasith Souvannavong, who is serving as Jury Chair.
NETPAC Award:
In Search of The Sky (Vimukt), dir. Jitank Singh Gurjar | India
NETPAC jury’s statement: “For offering an indelible tale of tolerance, desperation and faith, conveyed through a unique lens of realism and poetics, elevated by striking performances. In Search of The Sky (Vimukt) is a truly independent achievement by Indian filmmaker Jitank Singh Gurjar. The film transports the audience to rural central India, where an impoverished elderly couple contends with their cognitively challenged adult son and the villagers who threaten their existence. A beacon of hope comes in the form of the Maha Kumbh Mela, a pilgrimage to the world’s largest spiritual gathering where they seek renewal and new possibilities of life.”
BEST CANADIAN DISCOVERY AWARD
The Best Canadian Discovery Award celebrates works of emerging filmmakers who contribute to enriching the Canadian film landscape. All Canadian first or second feature films in Official Selection are eligible for this award. The winner will receive a cash prize of $10,000 CAD.
Jury members presiding over both the Best Canadian Discovery Award and Best Canadian Feature Film Award are: Jennifer Baichwal, Sophie Jarvis, and R.T. Thorne:
“Thirty-five films in 10 days gives you some perspective on the cinematic zeitgeist in our country. As a jury, we were particularly impressed by the wonderful variety, breadth, and strength of storytelling in the Indigenous films supported by the Indigenous Screen Office. This was a powerful indicator of the future of cinema in this country, and we look forward to seeing more in the future.”
Best Canadian Discovery Award:
Blue Heron, dir. Sophy Romvari | Canada
Jury’s statement: “Blue Heron, written and directed by Sophy Romvari, is a film centered on a family struggling with a troubling personal crisis, where all elements — script, direction, cinematography, performance and editing — unite to powerfully transcend the sum of their parts. The complexity of story, perspective, and emotion is conveyed with understated simplicity — nothing is superfluous — and the transitions between real and imagined, past and present, are seamless, as well as heartbreaking. Blue Heron is a stunning and assured feature debut about love, grief, memory, and the yearning to go back to the moment before everything changed.”
Honourable Mention:
100 Sunset, dir. Kunsang Kyirong | Canada
Jury’s statement: “We as a jury were struck by the remarkable world-building in 100 Sunset, Kunsang Kyirong’s directorial debut. She invites us into the apartment complex that is home to members of the Tibetan immigrant community in Toronto, where we experience the gossip, rivalries, and intrigues through the eyes of an observant young thief who rarely speaks but seems to register everything. The growing friendship between the thief and a newly arrived young wife is a study in seeing and being seen, and the interplay of an old DV camera perspective takes us along on their journey of expanding horizons.”
BEST CANADIAN FEATURE FILM AWARD
The Best Canadian Feature Film Award honours the unique craft and storytelling in Canadian cinema. All Canadian feature films in Official Selection — excluding first or second features — are considered for the award. The winning filmmaker will receive a $10,000 CAD cash prize.
Best Canadian Feature Film Award:
Uiksaringitara (Wrong Husband), dir. Zacharias Kunuk | Canada
Jury’s statement: “Wrong Husband, directed by Zacharias Kunuk, is a love story from thousands of years ago that blends the epic and intimate and immerses viewers in a mesmerizing and unique cinematic experience. The supernatural is ever-present and matter of fact alongside exquisite details of the daily rhythms of ancient Inuit life. The humour, gentleness and stoicism in the characters’ interactions is deeply moving, and the landscape is both a sublime setting and a character in itself. This is a beautiful and not unexpected achievement from a master storyteller.”
Honourable Mention:
There Are No Words, dir. Min Sook Lee | Canada
Jury’s statement: “An Honourable Mention goes to There Are No Words, written and directed by veteran documentarian Min Sook Lee. This film is a profound and devastating story of unspeakable loss; the shifting shape and mingling of individual and collective memory; the sometimes brutal immigrant experience; and how past violent personal and political realities can continue to define the identity of a family.”
PLATFORM AWARD
Marking the tenth anniversary of the Festival’s competitive section, Platform champions bold directorial vision and distinctive storytelling on the world stage. The Platform Award is a prize of $20,000 CAD given to the best film in the programme, selected by an in-person international jury: Carlos Marqués-Marcet (Jury Chair), Marianne Jean-Baptiste, and Chloé Robichaud.
Platform Award:
To The Victory!, dir. Valentyn Vasyanovych | Ukraine/Lithuania
Platform jury’s statement: “To The Victory! is the unanimous choice for this year’s Platform Award amongst a very strong selection. Bringing cinematic language to its roots and, at the same time, masterfully playing with audience expectations, this film dismantles convention to reveal deeply resonant universal emotions. Director Valentyn Vasyanovych has choreographed a mise-en-scène rendered with masterful precision, arriving at the kind of refined simplicity that can only be achieved with artistic maturity and bold vision. He has deftly used comedy to address a very complicated and complex situation into a work that is both audacious and profoundly beautiful. Ultimately, the film returns us to the very essence of cinema — reminding us why we are compelled to tell stories on film, and why we continue to do so.”
Honourable Mention:
Hen, dir. György Pálfi | Germany/Greece/Hungary
Platform jury’s statement: “The jury also wishes to recognize the extraordinary artistry of director György Pálfi, whose work exemplifies boldness, intelligence, and creative ingenuity. Blending cinematic genres in an inventive and seamless manner, Hen demonstrates remarkable precision in its camera movement and shot composition, resulting in an exceptionally effective narrative. György’s unwavering commitment to exploring humanity through the perspective of the hen yields a singularly original vision — a work of stunning originality, unlike anything else in contemporary cinema.”
Awards descriptions including eligibility can be found here: tiff.net/awards. Information on the People’s Choice Award voting process can be found here: tiff.net/vote.
Last Sunday, TIFF hosted its seventh annual TIFF Tribute Awards, in partnership with Rolex. Photos of the event can be found here.
The 50th Toronto International Film Festival, presented by Rogers, concludes today. The 51st edition of the Festival will take place September 10–20, 2026.
