TIFF May/June 2025 Programming Highlights

TIFF is showcasing a vibrant slate of cultural programming and events in May and June, including anticipated new restorations, a new Bollywood collection available at TIFF’s Film Reference Library, and a lineup of special guests. TIFF Cinematheque will present Flights: Vietnam on Film, a retrospective commemorating the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War with a series of curated screenings. Anticipated new restorations are Killer of Sheep and Badnam Basti. Audiences are invited to join TIFF for a Sing Along event featuring John Cameron Mitchell’s audacious Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Special guests coming to TIFF Lightbox this season include Aaditya Aggarwal, Carley Fortune, Tiffany Hsiung, Scaachi Koul, Helen Lee, Keira Loughran, and Justin Poy.

TIFF is marking a major milestone in 2025 as it celebrates the 50th edition of its Festival. The highly anticipated marquee series The TIFF Story in 50 Films is coming to Lightbox June through August. The series will showcase 50 landmark films from around the world that played a significant role in connecting with audiences and reflecting the story of TIFF. The lineup and schedule will be announced on May 7, with tickets available to Members on Wednesday, May 14, and open to the public on Friday, May 16.

TIFF’s Film Reference Library (FRL) recently completed the acquisition of the Ali Adil Khan Collection of Bollywood Art. This collection, free and available online, offers a comprehensive overview of Bollywood material culture and includes rare posters, LP’s, sketches, and billboards from the 1940s to the present for key Bollywood titles such as Mother India (1957) and Sholay (1975), alongside films by famed directors Yash Chopra and Raj Kapoor. This is one of the largest repositories of Bollywood art chronicling Indian Cinema in North America.

Information is subject to change. Please visit tiff.net for up-to-date programming details. Tickets for May programming will be available to TIFF Members on Wednesday, April 16, and to the public on Friday, April 18. Tickets for June programming will be available for TIFF Members on Wednesday, May 14, and to the public on Friday, May 16.

MAY HIGHLIGHTS

TIFF Cinematheque

Flights: Vietnam on Film
May 9–28
In recognition of Asian Heritage Month, TIFF Cinematheque presents a showcase of Vietnamese and Vietnamese diasporic cinemas. While Hollywood has dominated filmic representations of Vietnam, the works in this programme provide authentic visions of a country and people in search of new beginnings. Gathering diverse documentary and narrative films including Journey from the Fall (2006), A Tale of Love (1995), Three Seasons (1999), Daughter from Danang (2002), The Tailor (2017), Boat People (1982), Madam Phung’s Last Journey (2014), and Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell (2023), Flights explores escapes from, passages through, and returns to a country ravaged by war and transformed by globalization.

See the North presented by MUBI

• May 13 (6:30pm) The Apology (2016) dir. Tiffany Hsiung, post-show Q&A with the director

TIFF Wavelengths Presents

• May 14 (6:30pm) You Burn Me (2024) dir. Matías Piñeiro, post-show recorded Q&A with the director

TIFF Next Wave Presents

• May 22 (6:30pm) Plastic (2023) dir. Daisuke Miyazaki, post-show virtual Q&A with the director

MDFF Selects

• May 29 (6:30pm) Blue Sun Palace (2024) dir. Constance Tsang, Toronto Premiere!

May Special Events and Guests

• May 7 (7pm) Exclusion: Beyond The Silence (2024) dir. Keira Loughran; post-show on-stage conversation with Loughran, Helen Lee, and Co-Executive Producer Justin Poy
  TIFF Community Impact in partnership with Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto (CCCGT) presents a free screening of Loughran’s Exclusion: Beyond the Silence. This intimate documentary, produced by Craig Thompson, Wei Hu, and Ballinran Entertainment follows two granddaughters, Loughran and Helen Lee, who trace the groundbreaking legacies of their grandmothers to reveal the devastating impacts of the Chinese Immigration Act of 1923, better known as the “Chinese Exclusion Act,” on Chinese Canadian communities and their resilience in the face of discrimination.
  
• May 7 & May 20 (6:30pm) Badnam Basti (1971), dir. Prem Kapoor.
  Canadian Premiere of 4K restoration TIFF Cinematheque New & Restored in partnership with Berlin’s Arsenal - Institute for Film and Video Art and Goethe-Institut Toronto present Prem Kapoor’s Badnam Basti, India’s first foray into queer cinema, long thought to be lost. Introduced by Arsenal Institute’s Markus Ruff on May 7, and Sanghum Film Collective’s Aaditya Aggarwal on May 20.
  
• May 10, 11, 15, Killer of Sheep (1978) dir. Charles Burnett, Toronto Premiere of the new 4K restoration
  TIFF is pleased to present vanguard filmmaker Charles Burnett’s groundbreaking feature debut, Killer of Sheep, screening as part of TIFF Cinematheque New & Restored. Acclaimed for its combination of neorealist and poetic imagery, the LA Rebellion director’s captivating vision of Watts in its post-manufacturing decline would be selected for the National Film Registry in 1990, after 30 years in obscurity.
  
• May 13 (7pm) In Conversation With… Carley Fortune
  Best-selling author Carley Fortune (This Summer Will Be Different, Meet Me at the Lake, Every Summer After) joins TIFF in conversation with fellow chart-topping author Ashley Audrain (The Push, The Whispers) for the Toronto launch of her highly anticipated new novel, One Golden Summer. Each ticket purchase includes an assigned seat and a copy of One Golden Summer, pre-signed by Fortune. This event is presented in partnership with Penguin Random House Canada.

• May 21 (7:30pm) Loved It: Scaachi Koul on The Stepford Wives
  Award-winning writer, podcaster, and producer Scaachi Koul joins us in person to present a rare screening of Frank Oz’s The Stepford Wives, starring Nicole Kidman, Matthew Broderick, Bette Midler, and Glenn Close, and her new essay collection Sucker Punch. Community-access tickets for this event generously provided by Visa Sharing the Screen.

JUNE HIGHLIGHTS

TIFF Marquee series

• June 12 – August 27 The TIFF Story in 50 Films
  Curated by TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey, with input and insight from TIFF programmers past and present, this series will include special guests, including current and former programmers and select filmmakers for in-person Q&As and recorded introductions.

TIFF Wavelengths Presents

• June 11 (6:45pm) Gesture and Chance: Nadine Nortier and Mouchette programmed by Canadian Argentinian filmmaker Rita Ferrando

Special Event

• June 26 (7pm) Sing Along: Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001) dir. John Cameron Mitchell
  In celebration of Pride Month, TIFF presents a high-energy Sing Along screening of John Cameron Mitchell’s cult classic musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch. This event will feature warm-up activities, props, and onscreen lyrics so the whole audience can sing and cheer along with this eclectic exploration of identity and love.

The 50th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, presented by Rogers, will run September 4–14, 2025. For more information, visit tiff.net.

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About TIFF
TIFF is a not-for-profit cultural organization with a mission to transform the way people see the world through film. A global leader in film and entertainment, TIFF initiatives include the annual Toronto International Film Festival® in September; TIFF Lightbox, which features five cinemas, learning and entertainment facilities; the Donald Shebib TIFF Film Circuit, an innovative national distribution program; and the TIFF Content Market launching in 2026. The organization generates an estimated annual economic impact of $240 million CAD. TIFF Lightbox is generously supported by contributors including the Province of Ontario, the Government of Canada, the City of Toronto, the Reitman family (Ivan Reitman, Agi Mandel, and Susan Michaels), The Daniels Corporation, and RBC. For more information, visit tiff.net.

TIFF is generously supported by Festival Presenting Sponsor Rogers Communications.

TIFF is generously supported by Major Sponsors RBC and Visa, and Major Supporters: the Government of Canada, Government of Ontario, and City of Toronto.

TIFF Cinematheque is supported by Ontario Creates and Canada Council for the Arts.