Visionary auteurs and new talents highlight the festival’s avant-garde program
Babajide Fadoju Reports
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), has unveiled its 25th Wavelengths program, showcasing 25 experimental films, including eight features, a special pairing, and three shorts programs. Curated by Andréa Picard and Jesse Cumming, the lineup emphasizes innovative cinema from emerging and established filmmakers.
Notable features include Lav Diaz’s decolonial epic Magellan with Gael García Bernal, Rhayne Vermette’s Levers, and Kahlil Joseph’s BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions. A special pairing presents Kamal Aljafari’s With Hasan in Gaza alongside Basma al-Sharif’s It’s So Beautiful Here. The shorts programs feature world premieres by Viktoria Schmid, Björn Kämmerer, and Blake Williams, alongside debuts from Fredj Moussa and Kaiwen Ren. The program also honors the late Tomonari Nishikawa with a screening of his 2016 short Ten Mornings Ten Evenings and One Horizon.
Additional highlights include new works by Mark Jenkin, Abdellah Taïa, and Maryam Tafakory. The program reflects TIFF’s commitment to pushing cinematic boundaries, drawing inspiration from Michael Snow’s 1967 film Wavelength.
Tickets for TIFF Members go on sale August 15, with the full schedule released August 12.