TIFF schedule today: John Candy documentary to open festival’s 50th edition and more events on Day 1 | Canada Voices

TIFF highlights for Sept. 4

• The Toronto International Film Festival returns today for its 50th edition, and will run from Sept. 4 to 14. This year’s festival includes an official selection of 291 films (215 features, 10 television series, 66 shorts), including buzzy titles, awards-season hopefuls and big-name documentaries. It will also bring a slew of A-list celebrities into town. The Globe has a list of our most anticipated TIFF 2025 titles here.
• There has been more than a strong whiff of controversy over this year’s programming. TIFF has reinvited The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue, a Canadian documentary about Hamas’s attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, to screen as an official selection after earlier withdrawing its invitation last month.
• While TIFF celebrates its 50th birthday and keeps on growing, Wavelengths, its festival within a festival, finds itself on the brink of forced early retirement. Wavelengths has a loyal and committed following, with its avant-garde shorts programs attracting numerous aficionados from abroad.
• A little known fact about the festival is that it would not have happened had a Toronto lawyer named Dusty Cohl not snagged a primo parking spot in front of Cannes’s Carlton Hotel back in 1960. Film editor Barry Hertz explores the too-good-to-question origin story and the top 50 moments that define Canada’s glitziest cultural behemoth.

The TIFF film premieres happening today

John Candy: I Like Me

TIFF is set to open with the world premiere of John Candy: I Like Me (Sept. 4, 6 p.m., VISA Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre). The documentary is a tribute to the Canadian comedic icon, who got his start on sketch comedy show Second City Television. Directed by Colin Hanks and produced by Ryan Reynolds, the film features candid stories and memories from Candy’s family, closest friends and long-time collaborators such as Dan Aykroyd, Catherine O’Hara and Martin Short, covering his life on and off camera.

John Candy: I Like Me screens at TIFF on Sept. 4, 5 and 9.

Sentimental Value

Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, which took the Grand Prix at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, will have its Canadian premiere at the Princess of Wales Theatre on opening night (Sept. 4, 9:30 p.m., VISA Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre). The multigenerational drama, starring Stellan Skarsgard and Renate Reinsve, portrays a director’s bid to revive his career and repair his family’s broken bonds.

Sentimental Value screens at TIFF on Sept. 4 and 5.

Mile End Kicks

Canadian writer-director Chandler Levack’s new rom-com, Mile End Kicks, is also having its world premiere on the festival’s opening night (Sept. 4, 8:30 p.m., Royal Alexandra Theatre). The autobiographical second feature sees Grace Pine (Barbie Ferreira), a skittish 24-year-old music critic, move to Montreal from Toronto in 2011 to write a book about Alanis Morissette’s seminal album, Jagged Little Pill. Ahead of the film’s TIFF premiere, Levack reflects on the experience: “I was terrified to even admit that I wanted to be a filmmaker because it felt like such a lofty dream,” she said. “Both my movies are about people who are terrified to make art and avoid it the entire time, while constantly talking about the thing they want to make.”

Mile End Kicks screens at TIFF on Sept. 4, 9 and 13.

Midnight Madness: Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie

The first screening featured in TIFF’s Midnight Madness program this year is Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie (Sept. 4, 11:59 p.m., Royal Alexandra Theatre) on opening night. Director Matt Johnson’s newest film is a time-travel buddy comedy based on his cult web series with Jay McCarrol (which also spawned a two-season Viceland run).

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie screens at TIFF’s Midnight Madness on Sept. 4.

Star watch

• Ryan Reynolds will likely appear on the red carpet on Thursday to celebrate the premiere of John Candy: I Like Me. He is also set to participate in an “In Conversation With…” session to discuss his work as a producer on the documentary and the influence Candy had on his own career (Sept. 5, 2:30 p.m., Royal Alexandra Theatre).
• Stellan Skarsgard and Renate Reinsve are likely to walk the red carpet ahead of the Canadian premiere of Sentimental Value.

The big parties and other events

• The festival’s kickoff celebration will be held at Soluna nightclub on Sept. 4.
• There will be a “Hollywood North” party on Sept. 4 at the Sutton Place Hotel Toronto and its Abrielle restaurant from 7 p.m. to midnight. 
• TIFF’s Festival Street returns for its 10th year, transforming a section of King Street West into a pedestrian-only zone from Sept. 4 to 7. The celebrations will extend into David Pecaut Square from Sept. 4 to 13 for open-air movie screenings and other activities.
• The Rogers TIFF 50 Timescape event and installation runs from Sept. 5 to 7 in Yorkville.

How to get TIFF tickets, and other common questions

How do you buy TIFF tickets?

You can buy curated ticket packages, member bundles or individual tickets to film screenings. Tickets went on sale to the general public Aug. 25, but you are still able to purchase individual tickets to screenings throughout the festival. Prices for regular screenings start at $29 and prices for premium screenings start at $43. Browse films and purchase tickets on TIFF’s website.

Where can I see this year’s festival schedule?

The TIFF schedule is available on the festival’s website and can be sorted by venue, type of screening and date.

What are “rush” tickets, and how do they work?

Festival-goers who are unable to secure a ticket online are able to wait in rush lines for screenings. About 15 minutes prior to a screening’s start time, staff will count the amount of empty seats in the cinema and sell rush tickets to those in line on a first-come, first-served basis. The TIFF website recommends arriving no earlier than 60 minutes before the screening to wait in the rush line.

TIFF25: Essential reads

The 15 buzziest movies you can’t miss at this year’s Toronto film festival

On TIFF’s 50th anniversary, 50 moments that define Canada’s glitziest cultural behemoth

In defence of TIFF’s Wavelengths, the incredibly shrinking film festival program

Scarlett the great: At TIFF, Johansson leaves Marvel behind for a deeply Jewish story of forgiveness

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