The first week of TIFF announcements has concluded, with initial slates announced for the Galas, Special Presentations, Platform, Discovery, and Primetime sections of the program. At the DTMC, we know that it is overwhelming to make heads or tails of what to keep your eye on beyond the Cannes Award-winning holdovers (such as Fjord, Minotaur, and All of a Sudden) or the star-studded titles (like Babies, Alpha Gang, and Prime Facie). To help convince you to expand your shortlist, we’ve highlighted a dozen films announced this past week that are on our radar. Make sure to come back after the second wave of TIFF announcements to get our thoughts on the slate for the other sections such as Midnight Madness, Wavelengths, Centrepiece, and more!

The Unknown (dir. Arthur Harari)

This already had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year and even won the Prix Jean Vigo. However, it has received a generally mixed reception, currently averaging a 3.2/5 on Letterboxd to date which would make this an odd choice of a film to spotlight in this article. So why would I consider this one of my most anticipated of the festival? For starters, while I’m not quite as acquainted with Arthur Harari as a director, he is best known for his writing collaborations with director Justine Trier, including Sibyl and most notably Anatomy of a Fall. The latter was nominated for 5 Oscars and won Best Original Screenplay. Besides directing, Harari also co-wrote The Unknown. Secondly, the trailer is already out and it has a lot of what I like to look out for in my thrillers: the back-and-forth voyeurism between two characters, the obsession and stalking, and most importantly pertaining to this film – the body swapping. I also like the camerawork that’s on display as well, particularly the quick pan between the two mirror reflections of Lea Seydoux’s face looking back at David Zimmerman, the photographer who is about to swap bodies with her. Or have they already swapped in that scene? Only one way to find out. — JL

A Long Winter (dir. Andrew Haigh)

From my perspective, the name Andrew Haigh has me instantly seated. Since the early 2010s, he has become one of the most reliable filmmakers delivering quiet, introspective dramas that land emotional gut punches. His previous film, All of Us Strangers, remains one of the best of the decade. Shot in the Canadian Rockies, A Long Winter is adapted from a short story from Colm Tóibín (Brooklyn, successfully brought to screen in 2015) about a family in disarray. Not only was it shot in Canada, Haigh also enlisted Canadian cinematographer André Turpin (most known for his collaborations with Xavier Dolan and Denis Villeneuve) to bring the wintry atmosphere to the screen. I’m extremely excited for another entry in Haigh’s stellar filmography. — BW

Tender Loving Care (dir. Mike Leigh)

I enjoy many of Mike Leigh’s films, and I still believe the man has more to give as a filmmaker even into his 80s. I did enjoy Hard Truths, his last film which also premiered at TIFF back in 2024. This time around, Leigh has assembled together a cast comprised of a few of his frequent collaborators over the years – Marion Bailey, Kate O’Flynn and Paul Jesson just to name a few. I anticipate some strong acting performances, together with a good balance of comedy and emotionally touching moments all wrapped around the chamber drama storytelling that Leigh built his career around. — JL

Josephine (dir. Beth de Araújo)

It is low-hanging fruit to pick the winner of the Grand Jury Dramatic Prize at Sundance for this kind of post, but I do not care, everything I have heard about this one makes it a must-see. The film’s journey after its bow at Sundance is incredibly interesting. Despite the buzz and marketable stars (Channing Tatum, Gemma Chan), the film was passed on by all major distributors in the U.S. and was instead picked up for release by a relatively new distributor, Sumerian Studios. Although this is a red flag for awards pundits, this context surrounding the film signals to me that despite the thorny, confrontational subject matter, the film will be a rewarding and powerful experience. — BW

The Fortunate Isles (dirs. Helena Girón & Samuel Delgado)

There currently are not very many details about this film, however those who follow avant-garde filmmaking may be aware of the works of filmmaking duo Samuel Delgado and Helena Girón. They have made one feature before this and plenty of short films. Many of their films are about embracing the natural world from its oceans to the mountains, and are shot on dusty old analog film with all its grainy textures. Their last short film Bloom in particular explores the blurring of the definition between the earth above sea level and the ocean floor. It appears that The Fortunate Isles judging by the still image TIFF has provided may be a continuation of these same themes. It is rather curious to me to see their sophomoric effort be in the Discovery category this time around rather than Wavelengths like their past films. It seems like they’re still shooting on analog much like their previous films, and a change to the Discovery section this time around may not mean anything. I’m definitely looking forward to this one either way. — JL

Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People? (dir. Shinya Tsukamoto)

When you think “English-language debut of cult international filmmaker”, what comes to mind? Is it a big cast of American stars lining up to work with them? Is it a big Hollywood budget? Or maybe an audience-friendly premise? Well, Shinya Tsukamoto’s newest film is none of that, and that makes the project so much more interesting, showing the project is not motivated to these common pitfalls. Mr. Nelson continues Tsukamoto’s decade-long thematic exploration of war, this time following the decades-long reckoning of a Vietnam War veteran (played in two timelines by Broadway staple Rodney Hicks and Mark Merphy, in his first film role). Oscar Winner Geoffrey Rush and Fresh Prince alum Tatyana Ali round out the cast (in fact, the trailer is available directly on her Youtube page).

This film also marks Tsukamoto’s return to TIFF after 2023’s Shadow of Fire, a film that never ended up getting a theatrical release in North America, likely due to its similarly dour content. Catching Mr Nelson, Did You Kill People? at TIFFty-One may be a rare opportunity to see the newest from one of Japan’s most prolific filmmakers in the cinema. — BW

Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo (dir. Takashi Miike)

Director Takashi Miike is best known for his ultraviolent and provocative works that stretch across many genres, from horror (the iconic Audition) to action (Ichi the Killer, 13 Assassins) to the outright diabolical and most taboo like Visitor Q. Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo is a joint production that spans across different American, British, French and Japanese studio companies. That makes this one pretty unique in the context of Takashi Miike’s filmography – I believe this may be the first American co-production of his. Another first is him working with American stars such as Lily James as well as WWE wrestler Liv Morgan. It’s also the third (standalone) installment in the Bad Lieutenant series and I’m sure Takashi Miike will bring his own unique flair to his addition compared to the rest. I anticipate the kind of fun, bonkers off-the-wall energy that will play well to a festival audience like TIFF. — JL

Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother (dir. Bassam Tariq)

I know, I know. This is a big studio picture that is releasing publicly only a few weeks after the festival, but I am still looking for Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother to be an oasis in a landscape of very bleak, emotionally taxing films that I’m signing myself up for. As is the case with a Midnight Madness pick here and there, scheduling yourself for a few genre pictures such as this throughout the fest is good for one’s mental health. This project rose from the ashes of star Mahershala Ali and director Bassam Tariq’s failed MCU Blade entry and I am hoping that the perseverance of their desire to collaborate results in something great. The trailer promises a very stylish and moody action picture and the fact that it’s an Amazon MGM picture means that there’s no guarantee that opportunities to see it in a theatre will be easy to find. — BW

Possible Love (dir. Lee Chang-dong)

It has been 8 years since Lee Chang-dong released Burning, his last film and his most widely acclaimed to date. He is back this time around with a pretty strong cast comprising of actors whom he has collaborated with before (Jeon Do-yeon, Sul Kyung-gu) as well as stars from other renowned films (Zo In-sung, the co-lead in Hope slated to come out later this year and Cho Yeo-jeong, best known for Parasite). I’ve heard rumors that this was allegedly an adaptation of one of the Dekalog episodes by Krzysztof Kieślowski, although the story synopsis provided by TIFF involving two intertwined couples does not seem to map onto any Dekalog episode that I am aware of, speaking as someone who has seen all of them. If it is based on any Dekalog story at all it would most likely be heavily modified from the original source. Either way I’m excited for this one – Lee Chang-dong does not miss. — JL

Arne Goes to Space (dir. Lars Vega)

Part of the beauty of TIFF is sometimes selecting films to see based on vibes, especially in program sections that aren’t celebrity magnets. So in the Discovery section, I gravitate towards an interesting premise, which is definitely the case for Arne Goes to Space, which follows two senior Swedes who are visited by an alien and are tasked with showing him the earthly way of life. I cannot speak for Vega’s previous work, but he seems to be a filmmaker with a very clear interest in making comedic explorations of aging, so the fact that Arne Goes to Space is an evolution of many years of work gives me some optimism ahead of its premiere at the fest. — BW

Stuffed (dir. Theo Rhys)

I don’t have a whole lot to say on this one as the short film of the same name by director Theo Rhys was scrubbed off the Internet. It was Vimeo’s Short of the Week and was well-liked enough that Rhys was eventually able to make a feature-length version with a much larger budget starring Jodie Comer and Harry Melling. I’m mostly going off of vibes here as I haven’t seen the short film version of this. The concept of a taxidermy body horror romantic musical sounds quite up my alley. We’ll see if it’s as fun (and hopefully disgusting) as it sounds. — JL

On Behalf of My Son (dir. Gabriel Martins)

There’s an elephant in the room that will turn more eyes on the Platform program this year: a newly implemented rule that makes the winner eligible for the Best International Feature award at the Oscars, bypassing the country submission pathway that has been in place for decades. As a consequence, it feels like the lineup this year is packed with more experienced filmmakers than usual looking to make their mark on a bigger stage. One of the filmmakers with the biggest pedigree on the slate this year is Gabriel Martins, whose previous feature Mars One (2022) was Brazil’s selection for the Best International Feature category in 2022. On Behalf of My Son sees Martins return with a premise that’s bound to devastate. — BW