Toronto Film Festival Announces Discovery Lineup – Opens with John Early’s ‘Maddie’s Secret’

TIFF announced the 2025 Discovery program for the 50th Toronto International Film Festival running September 4–14, 2025.

This year’s program kicks off with Maddie’s Secret, the directorial debut satirizing and skewering content culture from alt-comedian John Early, who, alongside a troupe of comedians including Kate Berlant, Vanessa Bayer, and Conner O’Malley, plays the titular role.

Other films include Cato Kusters’ Julian, produced by Michiel and Lukas Dhont; Nadia Latif’s The Man in My Basement, starring Corey Hawkins and Willem Dafoe; Zamo Mkhwanazi’s Laundry, a rare co-production between South Africa and Switzerland; Taratoa Stappard’s Māori Gothic Mārama; and Canadian director and TIFF alum Eva Thomas’ Nika & Madison.

The Discovery program holds a rich history of championing and launching some of the world’s most acclaimed filmmakers, such as Ildikó Enyedi, Alfonso Cuarón, Julie Dash, Jean-Marc Vallée, Christopher Nolan, Maren Ade, Yorgos Lanthimos, Barry Jenkins, Dea Kulumbegashvili, Emma Seligman, and Elegance Bratton.

2025 Discovery Program

(in alphabetical order):

100 Sunset | Kunsang Kyirong | Canada
World Premiere

Amoeba | Siyou Tan | Singapore/Netherlands/France/Spain/South Korea
World Premiere

As We Breathe | Şeyhmus Altun | Turkey/Denmark
World Premiere

Babystar | Joscha Bongard | Germany
World Premiere

Bayaan | Bikas Ranjan Mishra | India
World Premiere

Dinner With Friends | Sasha Leigh Henry | Canada
World Premiere

Egghead Republic | Pella Kågerman and Hugo Lilja | Sweden
World Premiere

Forastera | Lucía Aleñar Iglesias | Spain/Italy/Sweden
World Premiere

Ghost School | Seemab Gul | Pakistan
World Premiere

Julian | Cato Kusters | Belgium/Netherlands
World Premiere

Laundry | Zamo Mkhwanazi | Switzerland/South Africa
World Premiere

Little Lorraine | Andy Hines | Canada
World Premiere

Maddie’s Secret | John Early | USA
World Premiere

Mārama | Taratoa Stappard | New Zealand
World Premiere

Nika & Madison | Eva Thomas | Canada
World Premiere

Noviembre | Tomás Corredor | Colombia/Mexico/Brazil/Norway
World Premiere

Oca | Karla Badillo | Mexico/Argentina
World Premiere

Our Father | Goran Stankovic | Serbia/Italy/Croatia/North Macedonia/Montenegro/Bosnia and Herzegovina
World Premiere

Out Standing | Mélanie Charbonneau | Canada
World Premiere

Retreat | Ted Evans | United Kingdom
World Premiere

Sink | Zain Duraie | Jordan/Saudi Arabia/Qatar/France
World Premiere

The Man in My Basement | Nadia Latif | United Kingdom/USA
World Premiere

The Son and the Sea | Stroma Cairns | United Kingdom
World Premiere