Best Picture 2025: What’s Playing at All the Film Festivals Coming Up

The Telluride Film Festival will begin this Thursday, August 29th, and run through Labor Day, September 2. Venice will run August 28-September 7. Toronto runs September 5 – 15. The New York Film Festival, September 27 – October 14.

The other film festivals come later and we will report on them when they drop. Telluride and Venice are first, with each offering a fresh look at movies we expect to be “in the conversation.” In Venice, we’re all waiting to see how Joker: Folie a Deux (one of the few films that will be known and seen by the broader public) will do among the critics. Queer is the other title to watch out for. That doesn’t mean other titles won’t stand out, but those are the two on my radar.

As for Telluride, we don’t yet know the lineup but our pal Michael Patterson has done his due diligence in attempting to predict what will be there. This practice greatly angers those at the festival, so much so that his credentials have been revoked. He loves the festival so much, though, that he still finds ways to attend, even if it costs an arm and a leg.

Here are his latest bets:
1) Anora/Baker — Cannes, Palme d’or
2) Conclave/Berger — first seen
3) Emilia Perez/Audiard — Cannes
4) The End/Oppenheimer — first seen
5) All We Imagine as Light/Kapadia – Cannes
6) The Piano Lesson/Washington – first seen
7) Nickel Boys/Ross – first seen
8) Saturday Night/Reitman – first seen
9) Maria/Larrian — second seen after Venice
10) The Outrun/Fingscheidt — Sundance

And a Bonus Ten Bets:

11) Bird/Arnold 
12) Disclaimer/Cuaron — first seen
13) Separated/Morris 
14) Better Man/Gracey
15) Piece by Piece/Neville
16) No Other Land/Adra, Ballal, Abraham and Szor
17) The Seed of the Sacred Fig/Rasoulof
18) The Friend/Siegel and McGeehee
19) Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight/Davitz
20) The Apprentice/Abassi

Lots of these have been seen in Cannes, but those above in bold will be firsts at Telluride. Conclave is a huge get for them as it appears to be a strong contender sight unseen. The End is the other one I’m looking forward to most. I hope it is as great as it sounds. Nickel Boys is another hotly buzzed title to be seen, and Jason Reitman – a Telluride loyalist — will be there with Saturday Night.

Suppose Denzel Washington brings the Piano Lesson with his sons. In that case, he will be one of the biggest stars in the mountains of Telluride for a long while, in addition to Angelina Jolie since Awards Daily has been denied tickets to the Patron’s Brunch for the first time in a very long time (they say it’s a crowd thing, and they had to cut back…I’m not sure I 100% believe that, but oh well), I won’t be able to rub elbows with the great Mr. Washington. But perhaps he’ll be around for a Q&A.

At the same time as Telluride is rolling out, reviews will pour in from Venice.

Venice in competition:

August 28-September 7
The Room Next Door, dir: Pedro Almodovar
Campo di Battaglia, dir: Gianni Amelio
Leurs Enfants Après Eux, dirs: Ludovic Boukherma, Zoran Boukherma
The Brutalist, dir: Brady Corbet
The Quiet Son, dirs: Delphine Coulin, Muriel Coulin
Vermiglio, dir: Maura Delpero
Sicilian Letters, dirs: Fabio Grassadonia, Antonio Piazza
Queer, dir: Luca Guadagnino
Love, dir: Dag Johan Haugerud
April, dir: Dea Kulumbegashvili
The Order, dir: Justin Kurzel
Maria, dir: Pablo Larrain
Trois Amies, dir: Emmanuel Mouret
Kill the Jockey, dir: Luis Ortega
Joker: Folie à Deux, dir: Todd Phillips
Babygirl, dir: Halina Reijn
I’m Still Here, dir: Walter Salles
Diva Futura, dir: Giulia Louise Steigerwalt
Harvest, dir: Athina Rachel Tsangari
Youth – Homecoming, dir: Wang Bing
Stranger Eyes, dir: Yeo Siew HuaOut of Comptition:

Fiction
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, dir: Tim Burton (Opening film)
L’Orto Americano, dir: Pupi Avati (Closing film)
Il Tempo che ci Vuole, dir: Francesca Comencini
Phantosmia, dir: Lav Diaz
Maldoror, dir: Fabrice du Welz
Broken Rage, Takeshi Kitano
Baby Invasion, dir: Harmony Korine
Cloud, dir: Kurosawa Kiyoshi
Finalement, dir: Claude Lelouch
Wolfs, dir: Jon Watts
Se Posso Permettermi Capitolo II, dir: Marco Bellocchio (short)
Allégorie Citadine, dirs: Alice Rohrwacher, JR (short)Non-Fiction
Why War, dir: Amos Gitai
2073, dir: Asif Kapadia
Bestiari, Erbari, Lapidari, dirs: Massimo D’Anolfi, Martina Perenti
Apocalypse in the Tropics, dir: Petra Costa
One to One: John & Yoko, dir: Kevin Macdonald, Sam Rice-Edwards
Separated, dir: Errol Morris
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989, dir: Goran Hugo Olsson
Russians at War, dir: Anastasia Trofimova
TWST/Things We Said Today, dir: Andrei Ujica
Songs of Slow Burning Earth, dir: Olha Zhurba
Riefenstahl, dir: Andres Veiel

Toronto International Film Festival

Here are the TIFF films revealed so far:

Galas 2024

Andrea Bocelli: Because I Believe Cosima Spender | UK
World Premiere

Better Man Michael Gracey | Australia
Canadian Premiere

Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight Embeth Davidtz | South Africa
Canadian Premiere
Sales Title – Rights Available

*Eden Ron Howard | USA
World Premiere
Sales Title – Rights Available

*Elton John: Never Too Late R.J. Cutler, David Furnish | USA
World Premiere

*Harbin Woo Min-ho | South Korea
World Premiere

Meet the Barbarians Julie Delpy | France
International Premiere
Sales Title – Rights Available

*Nutcrackers David Gordon Green | USA
World Premiere
Sales Title – Rights Available

Oh, Canada Paul Schrader | USA
North American Premiere
Sales Title – Rights Available

Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band Thom Zimny | USA
World Premiere

*Superboys of Malegaon Reema Kagti | India
World Premiere

*The Deb Rebel Wilson | Australia
World Premiere
Sales Title – Rights Available

The Friend Scott McGehee, David Siegel | USA
International Premiere
Sales Title – Rights Available

The Penguin Lessons Peter Cattaneo | Spain/United Kingdom
World Premiere
Sales Title – Rights Available

The Return Uberto Pasolini | Italy/United Kingdom
World Premiere
Sales Title – Rights Available

The Shrouds David Cronenberg | Canada/France
North American Premiere
Sales Title – Rights Available

*The Wild Robot Chris Sanders | USA
World Premiere

Unstoppable William Goldenberg | USA
World Premiere

Will & Harper Josh Greenbaum | USA
International Premiere

Special Presentations 2024 (in alphabetical order)
*Previously announced

40 Acres R.T. Thorne | Canada
World Premiere

All of You William Bridges | USA
World Premiere
Sales Title – Rights Available

All We Imagine as Light Payal Kapadia | France/India/Netherlands/Luxembourg
Canadian Premiere

‘Anora’
CANNES FILM FESTIVAL
Anora Sean Baker | USA
Canadian Premiere

Bird Andrea Arnold | United Kingdom
North American Premiere

Bring Them Down Christopher Andrews | Ireland/Belgium
World Premiere

Can I Get a Witness? Ann Marie Fleming | Canada
World Premiere

Carnival is Over Fernando Coimbra | Brazil/Portugal
World Premiere
Sales Title – Rights Available

Caught by the Tides Jia Zhang-Ke | China
North American Premiere

Ralph Fiennes in ‘Conclave’
Ralph Fiennes in ‘Conclave’
FOCUS FEATURES
Conclave Edward Berger | USA/United Kingdom
International Premiere

Emilia Pérez
Selena Gomez in ‘Emilia Pérez’
FRANCE 2 CINÉMA
Emilia Pérez Jacques Audiard | France/USA/Mexico
Canadian Premiere

Hard Truths Mike Leigh | United Kingdom/Spain
World Premiere

Harvest Athina Rachel Tsangari | United Kingdom
North American Premiere
Sales Title – Rights Available

Heretic Scott Beck, Bryan Woods | Canada
World Premiere

I’m Still Here Walter Salles | Brazil/France
North American Premiere

I, the Executioner Ryoo Seung-wan | South Korea
North American Premiere

*K-Pops Anderson .Paak | USA
World Premiere
Sales Title – Rights Available

Love in the Big City E.oni | South Korea
World Premiere
Sales Title – Rights Available

‘Millers in Marriage’
Millers in Marriage Edward Burns | USA
World Premiere
Sales Title – Rights Available

Misericordia Alain Guiraudie | Spain/Portugal/France
Canadian Premiere

*Nightbitch Marielle Heller | USA
World Premiere

On Becoming a Guinea Fowl Rungano Nyoni | Zambia/United Kingdom/Ireland
North American Premiere

Piece by Piece Morgan Neville | USA
International Premiere

Quisling – The Final Days Erik Poppe | Norway
International Premiere
Sales Title – Rights Available

Relay David Mackenzie | USA
World Premiere
Sales Title – Rights Available

Rez Ball Sydney Freeland | USA
World Premiere

Riff Raff Dito Montiel | USA
World Premiere
Sales Title – Rights Available

Rumours Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson | Canada/Germany
North American Premiere

Sharp Corner Jason Buxton | Canada/Ireland
World Premiere
Sales Title – Rights Available

*Shepherds Sophie Deraspe | Canada/France
World Premiere
Sales Title – Rights Available

Sketch Seth Worley | USA
World Premiere
Sales Title – Rights Available

The Assessment Fleur Fortuné | United Kingdom/Germany/USA
World Premiere
Sales Title – Rights Available

The Cut Sean Ellis | United Kingdom
World Premiere
Sales Title – Rights Available

The End Joshua Oppenheimer | Denmark/UK
Canadian Premiere

The Fire Inside Rachel Morrison | USA
World Premiere

The Girl with the Needle Magnus von Horn | Denmark/Poland/Sweden
North American Premiere

The Last Showgirl Gia Coppola | USA
World Premiere
Sales Title – Rights Available

*The Life of Chuck Mike Flanagan | USA
World Premiere
Sales Title – Rights Available

The Order Justin Kurzel | Canada/USA
North American Premiere

The Piano Lesson Malcolm Washington | USA
International Premiere

*We Live in Time John Crowley | United Kingdom/France
World Premiere

Went Up the Hill Samuel Van Grinsven | New Zealand/Australia
World Premiere
Sales Title – Rights Available

Without Blood Angelina Jolie | USA/Italy
World Premiere
Sales Title – Rights Available

Young Werther José Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenço | Canada
World Premiere
Sales Title – Rights Available

New York Film Festival

Opening Night
Nickel Boys
Dir. RaMell Ross

Centerpiece
The Room Next Door
Dir. Pedro Almodóvar

Closing Night
Blitz
Dir. Steve McQueen

All We Imagine as Light
Dir. Payal Kapadia

Anora
Dir. Sean Baker

April
Dir. Dea Kulumbegashvili

The Brutalist
Dir. Brady Corbet

By the Stream
Dir. Hong Sangsoo

Caught by the Tides
Dir. Jia Zhangke

Dahomey
Dir. Mati Diop

The Damned
Dir. Roberto Minervini

Eephus
Dir. Carson Lund

Grand Tour
Dir. Miguel Gomes

Happyend
Dir. Neo Sora

Hard Truths
Dir. Mike Leigh

Harvest
Dir. Athina Rachel Tsangari

Misericordia
Dir. Alain Guiraudie

My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow
Dir. Julia Loktev

No Other Land
Dir. Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor

Oh, Canada
Dir. Paul Schrader

On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
Dir. Rungano Nyoni

Pepe
Dir. Nelson Carlos de los Santos Arias

The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Dir. Mohammad Rasoulof

The Shrouds
Dir. David Cronenberg

Stranger Eyes
Dir. Yeo Siew Hua

Suburban Fury
Dir. Robinson Devor

Transamazonia
Dir. Pia Marais

A Traveler’s Needs
Dir. Hong Sangsoo

​​Việt and Nam
Dir. Trương Minh Quý

Who by Fire
Dir. Philippe Lesage

Youth (Hard Times)
Dir. Wang Bing

Youth (Homecoming)
Dir. Wang Bing