TIFF announces its 2025 Short Cuts programme

Hear from Short Cuts Co-Lead Programmer Sonja Baksa

 

See the world in short form: TIFF announces its 2025 Short Cuts programme

Short Cuts lineup features World Premieres of Idris Elba’s Dust to Dreams, Patrick Xavier Bresnan’s The Contestant, and Blake Winston Rice’s DISC New this year: Best Animated Short Film Award

TIFF’s Short Cuts programme returns for TIFF 50 with a compelling slate of 48 short films representing 28 countries – including 20 Canadian titles. This year’s programme showcases TIFF’s expansive curatorial vision across seven presentations, including Strange Cuts, the Midnight Madness-adjacent strand introduced in 2024. The 50th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, presented by Rogers, will take place September 4–14, 2025.   The Best International and Best Canadian Short Film Awards are joined by a third honour this year: the Best Animated Short Film Award evaluated by a panel of three Short Cuts Jurors. This year they are are rising cinematographer Ashley Iris Gill (Black Community Mixtapes), Marcel Jean, Artistic Director of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and Executive Director of the Cinémathèque québécoise, and Canadian actor, writer, and director Connor Jessup (whose short film Julian and the Wind had its World Premiere at last year’s Festival). Programme highlights include the World Premieres of Dust to Dreams by acclaimed actor Idris Elba; The Contestant from duo Patrick Xavier Bresnan and Ivete Lucas (The Passing, TIFF Short Cuts ‘23), featuring David Hasselhoff; and DISC by Cannes alum Blake Winston Rice, co-written by and starring Victoria Ratermanis and Jim Cummings. Joecar Hanna’s Talk Me, executive produced by Spike Lee, makes its North American premiere, as does The Non-Actor starring Maya Hawke and Victoria Pedretti. The documentary All the Empty Rooms from Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning filmmaker Joshua Seftel, executive produced by Adam McKay, will have its International Premiere. Additional Short Cut programme highlights: Ten animations across the seven-programme lineup, including Cannes, Annecy and Venice hits like Water Girl by Sandra Desmazières, The Girl Who Cried Pearls from Oscar-nominated Canadian animators Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, and Praying Mantis from the team of Yonfan (No. 7 Cherry Lane, TIFF ‘19) and Joe Hsieh. Returns from TIFF alumni, including Rich Williamson and Shasha Nakhai (Scarborough, TIFF ‘21) with short satire Bots; Kelly Fyffe-Marshall (When Morning Comes, TIFF ‘22) with sharply scripted drama Demons; Healer from Chelsea McMullan (Swan Song, TIFF ‘23) in collaboration with Amar Wala (Shook, TIFF ‘24); A South Facing Window by Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir (City of Wind, TIFF ‘23, Snow in September, TIFF ‘22); and A Soft Touch by Heather Young (Murmur, TIFF ‘19, Milk, TIFF ‘17). Award-winning standouts from the festival circuit, such as I’m Glad You’re Dead Now (Cannes 2025 short film Palme d'Or Winner) by Tawfeek Barhom and Ali (Cannes 2025 Special Jury Mention) by Adnan Al Rajeev. Strange Cuts’ sophomore lineup, with genre hybrids including the deliciously twisted psychedelic animation UM by Nieto, cheeky micro satire Marriaginalia by Hannah Cheesman, and the absurdist wonder Thanks to Meet You! from Richard Hunter. Compelling documentaries like seven-minute-long, visually striking short Divers by Georgie Wood and the whimsical Asparagus Bear from Ivan Grgur, produced by the Oscar-nominated director and last year’s Cannes short film Palme d’Or winner, Nebojša Slijepčević. TIFF debuts from emerging Canadian filmmakers: Jazz Infernal, an upbeat ode to the roots of jazz music from Will Niava Ramón Who Speaks to Ghosts, a delightful mockumentary by Shervin Kermani The Year of the Dragon, a tender drama about the sacrifices of motherhood from Giran Findlay-Liu ripe, a drama about family duty from Solara Thanh Bình Đặng Karupy, an absurd family drama from Canadian Film Centre Director Labs alum Kalainithan Kalaichelvan Klee, a prairie-gothic sci-fi that flips the script on colonization, from Saskatchewan-based Métis filmmaker Gavin Baird Poster Boy, a cutthroat look at the ’90s boyband world by India Opzoomer, who is also in TIFF’s Directors Lab this year Short Cuts Co-Lead Mariam Zaidi’s insights: Short Cuts Programme 1 (in alphabetical order) A Small Fiction of My Mother in Beijing | Dorothy Sing Zhang | China World Premiere Agapito | Arvin Belarmino, Kyla Danelle Romero | Philippines North American Premiere DISC | Blake Winston Rice | United States of America World Premiere Healer | Chelsea McMullan | Canada World Premiere Jazz Infernal | Will Niava | Canada World Premiere Ramón Who Speaks to Ghosts | Shervin Kermani | Spain/Canada/Mexico World Premiere The Girl Who Cried Pearls | Chris Lavis, Maciek Szczerbowski | Canada North American Premiere Short Cuts Programme 2 (in alphabetical order) Ambush | Yassmina Karajah | Jordan/Canada World Premiere Bots | Rich Williamson | Canada World Premiere I Fear Blue Skies | Salar Pashtoonyar | Canada World Premiere Not Scared, Just Sad | Isabelle Mecattaf | Lebanon/Bulgaria World Premiere Talk Me | Joecar Hanna | Spain/United States of America North American Premiere Water Girl | Sandra Desmazières | France/Netherlands/Portugal North American Premiere Short Cuts Programme 3 (in alphabetical order) A South Facing Window | Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir | France/Mongolia North American Premiere Asparagus Bear | Ivan Grgur | Croatia World Premiere Demons | Kelly Fyffe-Marshall | Canada World Premiere Earworm | Patrik Eklund | Sweden International Premiere Sea Star | Tyler Mckenzie Evans | Canada World Premiere The Non-Actor | Eliza Barry Callahan | United States of America North American Premiere What We Leave Behind | Jean-Sébastien Hamel, Alexandra Myotte | Canada North American Premiere Short Cuts Programme 4 (in alphabetical order) Ali | Adnan Al Rajeev | Bangladesh/Philippines North American Premiere Dust to Dreams | Idris Elba | Nigeria World Premiere Dust to Dreams | Idris Elba | Nigeria World Premiere Fiction Contract | Carolyn Lazard | United States of America International Premiere More Than Happy | Wei Keong Tan | Singapore World Premiere ripe | Solara Thanh Bình Đặng | Canada/Vietnam World Premiere To the Woods | Agnès Patron | France North American Premiere Year of the Dragon | Giran Findlay-Liu | Canada World Premiere Short Cuts Programme 5 (in alphabetical order) Arguments in Favor of Love | Gabriel Abrantes | Portugal North American Premiere Dish Pit | Anna Hopkins | Canada Canadian Premiere I'm Glad You're Dead Now | Tawfeek Barhom | France/Greece/Palestine North American Premiere Karupy | Kalainithan Kalaichelvan | Canada World Premiere Once in a Body | María Cristina Pérez González | Colombia/United States of America North American Premiere Pink Light | Harrison Browne | Canada World Premiere Poster Boy | India Opzoomer | Canada World Premiere The Contestant | Patrick Xavier Bresnan | United States of America/Germany World Premiere Short Cuts Programme 6 (in alphabetical order) A Soft Touch | Heather Young | Canada World Premiere All the Empty Rooms | Joshua Seftel | United States of America International Premiere Divers | Geordie Wood | United States of America North American Premiere Niimi | Dana Solomon | Canada World Premiere Permanent Guest | Sana Zahra Jafri | Pakistan World Premiere The Death of the Fish | Eva Lusbaronian | France North American Premiere Strange Cuts Klee | Gavin Baird | Canada World Premiere Marriaginalia | Hannah Cheesman | Canada World Premiere Praying Mantis | Joe Hsieh | Taiwan/Hong Kong North American Premiere Quietness | Gonçalo Almeida | Spain World Premiere Thanks To Meet You! | Richard Hunter | United Kingdom World Premiere The Veil | Gabriel Motta | Brazil World Premiere UM | Nieto | France World Premiere 2025 Short Cuts Awards Jury Ashley Iris Gill Ashley Iris Gill is a rising cinematographer whose intimate, emotive style shapes acclaimed works like the Canadian Screen Award winner Black Community Mixtapes, Sundance’s Thriving, and Scaring Women At Night (TIFF Short Cuts ‘22). She has collaborated with many brands including Nike, Mercedes, and BMO, while also passionately advocating for BIPOC and 2SLGBTQ+ communities in film. Marcel Jean Marcel Jean has been the Artistic Director of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival since 2012 and the Executive Director of the Cinémathèque québécoise since 2015. He is the author of several books on animation and Canadian cinema, and from 1999 to 2005 he was an executive producer at the NFB French program animation studio. Connor Jessup Connor Jessup is a Canadian actor, writer, and director, best known for his leading roles in Netflix’s Locke & Key, ABC’s American Crime, and the independent film Closet Monster (winner, Best Canadian Feature Film, TIFF ’15). As a filmmaker, Jessup’s short films have screened at the Festival as well as the Berlinale, Clermont-Ferrand, Palm Springs, FNC and many other festivals. Tickets go on sale to TIFF Members by level beginning on Friday, August 15. For more details, visit tiff.net/join. The full Festival schedule will be released on Tuesday, August 12. The 50th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, presented by Rogers, runs September 4–14, 2025. Social: YouTube: TIFF, TIFF Trailers X: @TIFF_NET & @TIFF_Industry Instagram, TikTok & Letterboxd Pinterest: @tiffnet Facebook.com/TIFF #TIFF50