Idris Elba’s Lagos-set work Dust to Dreams, starring music artist Seal, will premiere in the Toronto International Film Festival’s TIFF Shorts program, the lineup of which was unveiled Thursday.
Seal is joined by Nollywood stars Nse Ukpe-Etim, Eku Edewor, Atlanta Bridget Johnson and Constance Olatunde in the drama set against a nightclub on the cusp of a new era as its dying female owner sets a succession plan in motion.
Luther and Hijack star Elba made his directorial debut on the 2018 movie Yardie.
The year’s edition of TIFF Shorts will showcase 48 short films, representing 28 countries, across seven presentations, including Strange Cuts, the Midnight Madness-adjacent strand introduced in 2024.
Further program highlights include the world premieres of Patrick Xavier Bresnan and Ivete Lucas’ The Contestant, featuring David Hasselhoff, and Disc by Cannes alum Blake Winston Rice (Tea), co-written with and starring Victoria Ratermanis and Jim Cummings.
Joecar Hanna’s Talk Me, executive produced by Spike Lee, will makes its North American premiere after playing Cannes student film focused Cinef section in May, as will The Non-Actor, starring Maya Hawke and Victoria Pedretti.
The documentary All the Empty Rooms from Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning filmmaker Joshua Seftel and executive produced by Adam McKay is also in the line-up.
The selection also features works by a number of returning TIFF alumni, including short satire Bots by Rich Williamson and Shasha Nakhai (Scarborough, TIFF ‘21); Demons by Kelly Fyffe-Marshall (When Morning Comes, TIFF ‘22); 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).
This year’s line also includes short animations which broke out at Cannes, Annecy and Venice including Water Girl by Sandra Desmazières, The Girl Who Cried Pearls from Oscar-nominated Canadian animators Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, and Praying Mantis by Yonfan (No. 7 Cherry Lane, TIFF ‘19) and Joe Hsieh.
It will also screen a number of live-action standouts from the festival circuit such Cannes 2025 titles, the Palme d’Or winner as I’m Glad You’re Dead Now by Tawfeek Barhom, and Ali by Adnan Al Rajeev which won a Special Jury Mention.
The existing Best International and Best Canadian Short Film Awards are joined by a new prize, the Best Animated Short Film Award. The 2025 Short Cuts Awards jurors are cinematographer Ashley Iris Gill (Black Community Mixtapes), Annecy Artistic Director Marcel Jean and actor, writer, and director Connor Jessup.
TIFF Shorts 2025 Selection
Short Cuts Programme 1 (in alphabetical order)
A Small Fiction of My Mother in Beijing | Dorothy Sing Zhang | China
World Premiere
Agapito | Arvin Belarmino, Kyla Danelle Romero | Philippines
North American Premiere
DISC | Blake Winston Rice | U.S.
World Premiere
Healer | Chelsea McMullan | Canada
World Premiere
Jazz Infernal | Will Niava | Canada
World Premiere
Ramón Who Speaks to Ghosts | Shervin Kermani | Spain/Canada/Mexico
World Premiere
The Girl Who Cried Pearls | Chris Lavis, Maciek Szczerbowski | Canada
North American Premiere
Short Cuts Programme 2 (in alphabetical order)
Ambush | Yassmina Karajah | Jordan/Canada
World Premiere
Bots | Rich Williamson | Canada
World Premiere
I Fear Blue Skies | Salar Pashtoonyar | Canada
World Premiere
Not Scared, Just Sad | Isabelle Mecattaf | Lebanon/Bulgaria
World Premiere
Talk Me | Joecar Hanna | Spain/U.S.
North American Premiere
Water Girl | Sandra Desmazières | France/Netherlands/Portugal
North American Premiere
Short Cuts Programme 3 (in alphabetical order)
A South Facing Window | Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir | France/Mongolia
North American Premiere
Asparagus Bear | Ivan Grgur | Croatia
World Premiere
Demons | Kelly Fyffe-Marshall | Canada
World Premiere
Earworm | Patrik Eklund | Sweden
International Premiere
Sea Star | Tyler Mckenzie Evans | Canada
World Premiere
The Non-Actor | Eliza Barry Callahan | U.S.
North American Premiere
What We Leave Behind | Jean-Sébastien Hamel, Alexandra Myotte | Canada
North American Premiere
Short Cuts Programme 4 (in alphabetical order)
Ali | Adnan Al Rajeev | Bangladesh/Philippines
North American Premiere
Dust to Dreams | Idris Elba | Nigeria
World Premiere
Fiction Contract | Carolyn Lazard | U.S.
International Premiere
More Than Happy | Wei Keong Tan | Singapore
World Premiere
ripe | Solara Thanh Bình Đặng | Canada/Vietnam
World Premiere
To the Woods | Agnès Patron | France
North American Premiere
Year of the Dragon | Giran Findlay-Liu | Canada
World Premiere
Short Cuts Programme 5 (in alphabetical order)
Arguments in Favor of Love | Gabriel Abrantes | Portugal
North American Premiere
Dish Pit | Anna Hopkins | Canada
Canadian Premiere
I’m Glad You’re Dead Now | Tawfeek Barhom | France/Greece/Palestine
North American Premiere
Karupy | Kalainithan Kalaichelvan | Canada
World Premiere
Once in a Body | María Cristina Pérez González | Colombia/U.S.
North American Premiere
Pink Light | Harrison Browne | Canada
World Premiere
Poster Boy | India Opzoomer | Canada
World Premiere
The Contestant | Patrick Xavier Bresnan | U.S./Germany
World Premiere
Short Cuts Programme 6 (in alphabetical order)
A Soft Touch | Heather Young | Canada
World Premiere
All the Empty Rooms | Joshua Seftel | U.S.
International Premiere
Divers | Geordie Wood | U.S.
North American Premiere
Niimi | Dana Solomon | Canada
World Premiere
Permanent Guest | Sana Zahra Jafri | Pakistan
World Premiere
The Death of the Fish | Eva Lusbaronian | France
North American Premiere
Strange Cuts (in alphabetical order)
Klee | Gavin Baird | Canada
World Premiere
Marriaginalia | Hannah Cheesman | Canada
World Premiere
Praying Mantis | Joe Hsieh | Taiwan/Hong Kong
North American Premiere
Quietness | Gonçalo Almeida | Spain
World Premiere
Thanks To Meet You! | Richard Hunter | United Kingdom
World Premiere
The Veil | Gabriel Motta | Brazil
World Premiere
UM | Nieto | France
World Premiere
