Lovers of serialized storytelling, don’t let its name fool you: the Toronto International Film Festival has been celebrating series and the small screen for a decade. As the fest readies for the tenth anniversary of its Primetime program at this year’s event — dedicated to “spotlighting exceptional international series and boundary-pushing episodic storytelling” — TIFF has today announced the 2025 lineup.
This year’s Primetime slate features six world premieres including Sterlin Harjo’s latest, “The Lowdown,” which opens the section and stars Ethan Hawke, plus Netflix’s latest original Canadian series “Wayward” (created by Mae Martin and Ryan Scott, and starring Martin, Sarah Gadon, and Toni Collette), Zach Baylin and Kate Susman’s “Black Rabbit” (starring Jude Law and Jason Bateman, the latter of whom also directs some of the episodes), “Origin: The Story of the Basketball Africa League” (the only documentary series in the lineup), and “The Savage” (created by Houman Seyyedi).
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Over the past few weeks, TIFF has announced the majority 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, its robust documentary slate, plus the talents being celebrated at this year’s Tribute gala.
TIFF 2025 Primetime (in alphabetical order):
“A Sámi Wedding” | Åse Kathrin Vuolab, Pål Jackman | Norway | World Premiere
“Black Rabbit” | Zach Baylin, Kate Susman | USA | World Premiere
“Gandhi” | Sameer Nair, Hansal Mehta | India | World Premiere
“Origin: The Story of the Basketball Africa League” | Richard Brown, Tebogo Malope | Rwanda/UK/USA | World Premiere
“Portobello – The Fall of Enzo Tortora” | Marco Bellocchio | Italy/France | International Premiere
“Reunion” | William Mager, Luke Snellin | UK | North American Premiere
“Rise of the Raven” | Balázs Lengyel, Robert Dornhelm | Hungary / Austria / Germany | North American Premiere
“The Lowdown” | Sterlin Harjo | USA | World Premiere
“The Savage” | Houman Seyyedi | Iran | International Premiere
“Wayward” | Mae Martin, Ryan Scott | Canada | 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.
