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

press release

August 7, 2025

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

Two people in conversation at an evening event, one with vibrant orange hair, in warm ambient lighting

Dust to Dreams

TORONTO – 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).

Hear from Short Cuts Co-Lead Programmer Sonja Baksa:

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 Geordie 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):

Short Cuts Programme 2 (in alphabetical order):

Short Cuts Programme 3 (in alphabetical order):

Short Cuts Programme 4 (in alphabetical order):

Short Cuts Programme 5 (in alphabetical order):

Short Cuts Programme 6 (in alphabetical order):

Strange Cuts (in alphabetical order):

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.