He Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was confirmed again as one of the great capitals of world cinema: the Canadian contest was consolidated in recent years as the real start of the awards in Hollywood. There, the most anticipated films of the year are looking for their first ovation, the studies measure forces for Oscar and the stars offer a glamor postcard that runs through the world.
The importance of Toronto It is explained for several reasons. The calendar places it in September, at the right point between Cannes and Venice and weeks of the awards season in the United States. That window makes Tiff a strategic place to position films, get international distribution and add media attention. The festival also delivers a symbolic award that became decisive: the People’s Choice Award, voted by the public, which became an Oscar predictor. Movies like Slumdog Millionaire, 12 years slave, Nomadland either LA LA LAND They began their way to consecration here.
This 2025, the Argentine presence marked a milestone with the world premiere of & Sonsthe first film in English of Pablo Trapero. Based on David Gilbert’s novel, with the script by the Oscarized Sarah Polley, the film explores family tensions and the figure of a prison writer played by Bill Night. Beside him, an international cast with Noah Jupe, George Mackay, Johnny Flynn, Dominic West and Imelda Stauunton provides generational diversity and prestige. The music, in charge of Cristóbal Tapia de Veer, reinforces the aesthetic commitment of a project that points to global recognition.
The premiere in Toronto was accompanied by Argentine producers Diego Kolankowsky, Juliana Wates and Axel Kutchevaskywho together with Trapero paraded through the red carpet in a gesture that celebrated the national presence in one of the most influential festivals in the world. The production, the result of the collaboration between Infinity Hill, Matanza Cine and International Companies, will have its premiere in Argentina in December, but Toronto was the starting point of a possible race towards the awards season.
The festival, as every year, also shone by the presence of figures that lit the cameras. In the red carpet they paraded names like James Mcavoy, Taika Waititi and Ben Stillerwhich offered an advance of the Hollywood deployment in Canada. Keanu Reeves was one of the most acclaimed by the public, greeting fans and signing autographs with their close style.
Paul Mescal, Kirsten Dunst and Chris Evans also stood out, while Jamie Lee Curtis, Channing Tatum and Sydney Sweeney They added intergenerational presence to the gala. The appearance of Angelina Jolie, wrapped in an elegant dark coat, and the patriotic wink of Ryan Reynolds, which showed a shirt with the Canadian Arce leaf, completed the Toronto star postcard.
The combination of film, industry and stars confirms the unique place that TIFF occupies in the calendar. It does not distribute the Golden Palm or the Lion of Venice, but what it offers is even more attractive: the possibility of starting a campaign towards the Oscar with the support of critics, public and distributors. Toronto not only marks trends in the industry, but has become the meeting point where Hollywood measures its strength and where also Latin American cinema, with a trapero to the head, can make a definitive leap towards global visibility.
In its 2025 edition, the festival made it clear again why it is Hollywood’s favorite: because it combines glamor, industry and international projection, and because every September, the world of cinema turns the view towards Canada.
By rn
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