This year’s slate of 23 documentaries from 18 countries at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival is a melange of newsy subjects, rising directors, and potential Oscar contenders covering explorers, journalists, sex workers, activists, soldiers, and champion whistlers.
The TIFF Documentary Selection will open with two-time short documentary Oscar-winner Ben Proudfoot’s “The Eyes of Ghana,” a sales title which profiles the Ghanaian filmmaker Chris Hesse and is backed by executive producers Barack and Michelle Obama. “It is a celebration of the power of cinema,” TIFF documentary programmer Thom Powers told IndieWire via Zoom. “For 60 years, Hesse, who’s still alive in his nineties and documented the early days of the Africa’s independence movement, has helped to maintain the archive of his footage from all that time.”
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This year’s non-fiction lineup, culled from a record 1,000 submissions, includes 16 world premieres, many of which are sales titles. Two high-profile docs are playing in the gala section of the fest: Colin Hanks’ “John Candy: I Like Me” and Ally Pankiw’s “Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery.”
Established filmmakers offering films reflecting the times we live in include Jimmy Chin and Chai Vasarhelyi with NatGeo’s “LOVE+WAR.” “Their film tracks the Pulitzer-Prize winning photojournalist Lynsey Addario over several years, anchored in her coverage of Ukraine,” said Powers. “It’s also looking at what it means to be a combat photographer and also a parent.”
“Cocaine Cowboys” filmmaker Billy Corben is back with “Canceled: The Paula Deen Story” (UTA) which looks back 12 years “at one of the early stories of celebrity facing a wave of of scandal,” said Powers, “in this case, over the question of racial slurs. It’s a more nuanced and complicated story than came across at the time.”
“Honeyland” double Oscar nominee Tamara Kotevska’s “The Tale of Silyan” profiles a lonely older farmer in North Macedonia who nurses a stork back to health.
“I Am Not Your Negro” Oscar-nominee Raoul Peck (Neon’s “Orwell: 2+2=5”), which debuted at Cannes, follows another writer, George Orwell. “If there’s any writer who has some perspective on the times we’re living in, it’s Orwell,” said Powers.
Oscar-winner Laura Poitras teams with Mark Obenhaus for Venice premiere “Cover-Up” (represented by Submarine), a portrait of the great investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, who broke the Abu Ghraib story, among others.
High-profile world premieres coming to TIFF as sales titles include John Dower’s “The Balloonists” (Anonymous Content/Submarine) which captures competitive teams of 1990s adventurers who set out to circle the globe in a balloon, trying to be the first to circumnavigate the globe. “The footage is incredible,” said Powers. “It leaves you white knuckled with suspense all the way through.”
“A Life Illuminated” (Sandbox Films/MATR), directed by Tasha Van Zandt, follows marine biologist Dr. Edie Widder on a stunning journey to the ocean depths. “It’s about a pioneering woman scientist who studies deep in the ocean the phenomenon of bioluminescence,” said Powers. “We’re following her on an expedition where she is trying to capture this elusive thing on film.”
In the tradition of “Spellbound” is “Whistle” (CAA) directed by Christopher Nelius, which portrays a competition of champion whistlers. “if there’s a film that we need to teach us how to find our own moments of calm and joy,” said Powers, “maybe it’s a film about whistling.”
And “Nuns vs. the Vatican,” directed by Lorena Luciano and executive produced by Mariska Hargitay, exposes new allegations of abuse inside the Catholic Church.
These TIFF Docs titles join a number of documentaries already announced for TIFF 50, including the world premieres of “Degrassi: Whatever It Takes,” “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert,” and “You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution… ” in Special Presentations; and “Palimpsest: the Story of a Name,” in the Centrepiece program.
Over the past few weeks, TIFF has announced a large portion of its selections, including Colin Hanks’ opening night documentary “John Candy: I Like Me,” plus new films from Steven Soderbergh, Nia DaCosta, Chandler Levack, Alejandro Amenábar, and Sung-hyun Byun, the addition of 11 starry titles in the Gala and Special Presentations program (plus that full lineup), the release of the Platform jury and lineup, the full Discovery slate, the always-wild Midnight Madness lineup, plus the talents being celebrated at this year’s Tribute gala.
2025 TIFF Doc program (in alphabetical order):
“A Life Illuminated” | Tasha Van Zandt | USA
World Premiere
“A Simple Soldier” | Juan Camilo Cruz, Artem Ryzhykov | Ukraine
North American Premiere
“Aki” | Darlene Naponse | Canada
World Premiere
“Below the Clouds” | Gianfranco Rosi | Italy
International Premiere
“Canceled: The Paula Deen Story” | Billy Corben | USA
World Premiere
“Cover-Up” | Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus | USA
Canadian Premiere
“Flana” | Zahraa Ghandour | Iraq/France/Qatar
World Premiere
“LOVE+WAR” | Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin | USA
World Premiere
“Modern Whore” | Nicole Bazuin | Canada
World Premiere
“Ni-Naadamaadiz: Red Power Rising” | Shane Belcourt | Canada
World Premiere
“Nuestra Tierra” | Lucrecia Martel | Argentina/USA/Mexico/France/Denmark/Netherlands
North American Premiere
“Nuns vs. The Vatican” | Lorena Luciano | USA
World Premiere
“Orwell: 2+2=5” | Raoul Peck | USA/France North American Premiere
Powwow People | Sky Hopinka | USA
World Premiere
“Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk” | Sepideh Farsi | France/Palestine/Iran
North American Premiere
“Still Single” | Jamal Burger, Jukan Tateisi | Canada
World Premiere
“The Balloonists” | John Dower | USA/UK/Austria
World Premiere
“The Eyes of Ghana” | Ben Proudfoot | USA
World Premiere
“The Tale of Silyan” | Tamara Kotevska | North Macedonia
North American Premiere
“There Are No Words” | Min Sook Lee | Canada
World Premiere
“True North” | Michèle Stephenson | USA/Canada
World Premiere
“While the Green Grass Grows: A Diary in Seven Parts” | Peter Mettler | Canada/Switzerland
World Premiere
“Whistle” | Christopher Nelius | Australia
World Premiere
The 50th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, presented by Rogers, runs September 4–14, 2025. More festival details will be shared in the coming weeks.
