The 13th annual Toronto Black Film Festival – #TBFF25 – marks Black History Month with bold, diverse, innovative and meaningful programming from:
Films starring Edwin Moses, Samuel L. Jackson, Spike Lee, Ama Qamata, Kyla Alexander, Michael Johnson, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Caleb "CJ" Williams, Kathleen Stephens, Samba Badjii, Ouma Katrina, Siphokazi Jonas, Tyler Young, Noxolo Dlamini, Irshaad Ally, and more.
Full Program, All Access Passes & Individual Tickets at TorontoBlackFilm.com
The Toronto Black Film Festival (TBFF), presented by TD Bank Group (TD) in collaboration with Global News, announces the official program and events lineup running February 12 – 17, 2025. Founded by the Fabienne Colas Foundation, the Toronto Black Film Festival will offer, as usual, a diversified, powerful and exciting program to Toronto audiences.
TBFF is Canada’s largest cultural celebration of Black History Month, attracting hundreds of thousands of festivalgoers of all ages and ethnicities in person and online. Year after year, through its bold and diverse programming, the Toronto Black Film Festival has been a catalyst and necessary platform for Black artists who would otherwise remain invisible. Toronto Black Film Festival is a movement that allows members of the Global Majority and other communities to come together to learn about and better understand one another.
#TBFF25 will present 3 World Premieres, 3 International Premieres, 1 North American premiere, 17 Canadian Premieres, 9 Ontario Premieres and 2 Toronto Premieres. #TBFF25, Canada’s largest celebration of Black History Month through films and other engaging public programming, showcases over 60 films from 22 countries, including Canada, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Netherlands, Nigeria, South Africa, Germany, Colombia, Mexico, the United States, Brazil, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Kenya, Senegal, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Switzerland, Australia, Ireland, and France.
OPENING NIGHT GALA: FILM & TRIBUTE
Isabel Bader Theatre – February 12 at 7:30 pm
The Festival’s opening night will take place on Wednesday, February 12, at 7:30 pm at the Isabel Bader Theatre with the Toronto premiere of Fight Like a Girl, executive produced by Serge Ibaka, directed by Matthew Leutwyler, and produced by Anton Laines with whom there will be an engaging Q&A following the film.
Starring Ama Qamata, this powerful film tells the true story of a young Congolese woman forced to work in an illegal mineral mine who escapes captivity and starts a new life by joining a renowned all-women boxing club in the border city of Goma. Based on a true story, Fight Like a Girl highlights resilience, strength, and the fight for freedom.
The opening film will be preceded by a tribute to Ernie Hudson.
TRIBUTE TO ERNIE HUDSON
Preceding the opening film screening – powered by TD Bank Group – the Festival is honored to present one of this generation’s most well-versed actors, Ernie Hudson, with the Toronto Black Film Festival’s 2025 Career Achievement Award.
The highly versatile and acclaimed actor is returning to the big screen. This spring, he’ll reprise his iconic role in the latest chapter of the legendary “Ghostbusters” franchise, “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.” Ernie Hudson currently stars alongside Raymond Lee and Caitlin Bassett in the reboot of Quantum Leap, which recently completed its second season on NBC and streaming on Peacock. He also stars and executive produces The Family Business, which is now in its fifth season on BET Plus and streaming on Netflix. Previously, he appeared in Grace and Frankie with Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda and earned a Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Series for his role in HBO’s Oz.
Hudson’s extensive television credits include Modern Family, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Law & Order, LA’s Finest with Gabrielle Union and Jessica Alba, Twin Peaks, Scandal, Blue Bloods, Grey’s Anatomy, and Ballerswith Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. In film, Hudson’s credits span all five Ghostbusters movies, The Crow with Brandon Lee, Miss Congeniality 1 & 2 with Sandra Bullock, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle opposite Julianne Moore and Rebecca DeMornay, and Congo with Laura Linney. His recent film roles include Champions with Woody Harrelson, Retirement Plan with Nicolas Cage, and Prisoner’s Daughter with Brian Cox.
CLOSING FILM
Carlton Cinema – February 16 at 7 pm
#TBFF25 will close with the Canadian Premiere of Legacy: The De-Colonized History of South Africa. Apartheid was dismantled in 1994, yet three decades later, South Africa remains the most unequal country in the world. This exploration of South Africa reveals the roots of this inequality, exposing why it persists today. It is a perspective-shifting documentary that features, in unprecedented access, the grandson of the “Architect of Apartheid,” who takes a searingly honest look into his ancestry, exposing not only the systemic strings that Apartheid still holds over South Africa but the psychological strings as well.
The TBFF All Access Pass and individual tickets are on sale now on the Festival’s website
