TIFF24 Shortlist

Brett Goldstein and Imogen Poots star in a stirring near-futuristic romance as best friends who harbour an unspoken love for one another even after a test matches one of them up with their supposed soulmate.

Set in a future world destroyed by climate change, a couple must pass an assessment before they are allowed to have a child in this sci-fi thriller starring Alicia Vikander and Elizabeth Olsen.

Inspired by the life of the eponymous Martinican writer and activist, Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich’s feature debut, The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire, is a sumptuous, critical reflection on art, love, and politics — employing the spells of cinema to contend with an elusive legacy.

In Panama City, the delicate connection between a pregnant Colombian immigrant with status issues and a well-to-do matriarch with dementia propels documentarian Ana Endara’s accomplished narrative feature debut.

In her debut film, Lakshmipriya Devi crafts a vibrant and poignant portrayal of childhood resilience following a schoolboy, Boong, as he defies borders and ethno-racial discord in Manipur to reunite his family.

Keira Jang, Joel Oulette, and Sandra Oh star in this introspective live-action and animated feature set in the near future when technology and travel are almost completely banned, and nobody is allowed to live past age 50.

Jasmin Gordon’s poignant and impeccably crafted feature film debut rattles our perceptions of motherhood and moral integrity with its intimate and complex portrait of a sort of woman who is rarely depicted.

In the latest from Nacho Vigalondo (Colossal, TIFF ’16), Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians) soulfully portrays a bereaved man who enrolls in a clinical trial for a drug that allows him to reunite with his lost lover (Beatrice Grannò) through lucid dreams.

TIFF and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation are proud to select Daniela Forever for the third edition of the Sloan Science on Film Showcase.

Following the Saturday, September 7 screening, the Sloan Science on Film Showcase will feature a Q&A with director Nacho Vigalondo and a scientific expert in lucid dreaming. The Showcase promises to explore dream states and the neuroscience behind lucid dreaming.

Funding for the Science on Film Showcase is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s Public Understanding of Science and Technology program, which supports books, radio, film, television, theatre, and new media to reach a wide, non-specialized audience and to bridge the two cultures of science and the humanities.

This emotionally faceted, masterfully assembled second feature from Huang Xi stars screen legend Sylvia Chang as a woman forced to decide the fate of her recently deceased daughter’s embryo.

A committed couple finds their life slipping away, not because they’ve done anything in particular, but because their history is unwriting itself. Sort of.

Renowned cinematographer Rachel Morrison makes her feature directorial debut with this film about boxer Claressa Shields’ true-life ascent to the Olympics. It’s a unique sports story that goes beyond the triumph of the underdog to ask what comes after.

Bride-to-be Gülizar believes a brighter future is on the horizon. When a violent assault occurs on her journey from Turkey to Kosovo where she planned a fresh start, she is forced to navigate a new path forward.

Starring Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher, and Chloe East, this fiendishly irreverent chamber horror from writer-director duo Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (the celebrated scenarists behind A Quiet Place) considers how an innocent chat about theology can go terribly awry.

A mother and her long-lost son journey through war-torn Colombia seeking redemption and discovering that only great sacrifices can heal their souls and mend their fractured past.

Anchored by a stunning performance from Temi Ami-Williams (Eyimofe), the debut from Nigeria’s Agbajowo Collective, part thriller, part magical realism, is a riveting indictment of the unchecked development and forced evictions besetting Africa’s largest city.

When her grown daughter Sumi has a bad fall in Winnipeg, anxious widow Sara (Kim Ho-jung) travels from Korea to be with her — and discovers she doesn't really know Sumi at all.

Rachel House’s heartfelt debut film follows a brave trio on the journey of a lifetime, where they learn the true meaning of friendship and the power of their cultural legacy. Executive produced by Taika Waititi.

In southern Spain, a wealthy divorcée’s life is upended when a young Senegalese immigrant takes refuge in her tool shed. Though it explores harsh realities, Elena Manrique’s directorial debut blends humour and vulnerability to create a poignant story.

A cultural snapshot of turn-of-the-millennium Toronto with subtle comic energy and a great cast, Sook-Yin Lee’s adaptation of Chester Brown’s autobiographical 2011 graphic novel is a movie only Lee could make… because it’s her story, too.

Based on the true story of Denmark’s biggest-ever robbery, Frederik Louis Hviid’s heist thriller highlights the steely professionalism of men operating outside the law.

The delightful Dutch animation team of Job, Joris & Marieke returns with a wickedly funny parable that suggests a rather extreme means of getting people to think about their footprint on this world.

A rising musical-theatre star before his transition, Z (Breton Lalama) has to figure out how to sing in his new register in order to return to the thing he loves most — and, in the process, integrate his past and present selves.

Lily James and Oscar winner Riz Ahmed star in this dazzlingly clever high-concept thriller directed by David Mackenzie (Hell or High Water) about a reclusive middleman for would-be whistleblowers seeking to settle with corporate malefactors.

With an all-star ensemble that includes Ed Harris, Gabrielle Union, Jennifer Coolidge, and Bill Murray, the latest from director Dito Montiel (Man Down, TIFF ’15) is a pitch-black comedy about family, loyalty, and murder.

Ali Samadi Ahadi’s latest explores an agonizing struggle. When imprisoned human rights activist Maryam is granted a rare medical leave, she has the chance to escape Iran but at the expense of her battle for equality and democracy.

After a car crashes into his front yard, a family man develops an unhealthy obsession with being ready for the next accident. And the next.

A Montréal copywriter sets out to reinvent himself as a sheep herder in the French Alps despite knowing literally nothing about the centuries-old craft, in this adaptation from director and co-writer Sophie Deraspe.

When a young girl’s peculiar drawings come to life, leaving a wake of chaos and crayon dust, a grieving family has to band together to fight them off in this feature debut reminiscent of classics like Gremlins, Jumanji, and The Goonies.

Helmed by Reema Kagti (Talaash: The Answer Lies Within) in her latest collaboration with producer Zoya Akhtar (Gully Boy), this uplifting story chronicles the life of Nasir Shaikh, whose no-budget, community-sourced movies turned his hometown into an unlikely dream factory.

This beautifully textured period drama from director Frida Kempff tells the story of Sally Bauer, a Swedish mother who pursues her dream of swimming the English Channel before the Second World War envelops Europe.

Unequal parts contemporary dance-musical and ensemble drama, They Will Be Dust reaches for the raw emotional core of humanity in all its inherent messiness.

Written and filmed during Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, Pavlo Ostrikov’s debut feature is a true wonder and a prescient reminder how important it is to connect with someone who understands during the darkest of times.

A Ukrainian family of four on vacation in the Canary Islands become refugees overnight when Russia’s ongoing occupation of Ukraine turns into a full-scale invasion, in Damian Kocur’s tense and timely sophomore feature.

Featuring gorgeously detailed performances from Oscar nominees Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield, this inventively structured romance explores the question of how to make the most of our time in this world.