Toronto Film Festival Classics Program to Celebrate 50th Anniversary of Jaws

Toronto Film Festival is celebrating its 50th edition with a Classics program of new 4K restorations presented alongside special 50th anniversary screenings of Jaws in 35mm. The 50th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival will take place September 4–14, 2025.

This year’s Classics comprise a wide breadth, from lesser-known films from established auteurs, discoveries, films with rising cult status, and revered blockbusters. Rarely shown and largely out of circulation, Aniki-Bóbó is the impressive debut by the late, great Portuguese filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira; a sly, delightful children’s tale set in a working-class neighbourhood in Porto. Once voted the best Iranian film of all time, Bashu, the Little Stranger by Iranian New Wave pioneer Bahram Beyzaie, tells the story of a boy orphaned by the Iraq-Iran war with pathos and gentle humour. Satyajit Ray’s lesser-known modernist masterpiece Days and Nights in the Forest is incandescent in this new restoration, initiated by Wes Anderson. Rediscoveries of trailblazing voices include The Arch by T’ang Shushuen, adapted from a 17th century Chinese tale and one of the first independent films made in Hong Kong (and by a woman), and iconoclast Michael Almereyda’s hip interpretation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula by way of nineties New York in Nadja which first premiered at TIFF in 1994. Finally, celebrating its 50th anniversary alongside TIFF is Steven Spielberg’s iconic summer blockbuster chiller Jaws, presented in 35mm as a Canadian exclusive.

2025 Classics

(in alphabetical order)

Aniki-Bóbó | Manoel de Oliveira | Portugal | 1942
North American Premiere of 4K restoration

Bashu, the Little Stranger (Bashu Gharibeh Kouchak) | Bahram Beyzaie | Iran | 1986
North American Premiere of 4K restoration

Days and Nights in the Forest (Aranyer Din Ratri) | Satyajit Ray | India | 1970
North American Premiere of 4K restoration

Jaws | Steven Spielberg | USA | 1975
50th Anniversary – 35mm Canadian exclusive

Nadja | Michael Almereyda | USA | 1994
World Premiere of 4K restoration

Sholay | Ramesh Sippy | India | 1975
50th Anniversary and North American Premiere of 4K restoration | Gala (previously announced), co-presented by Classics

The Arch (董夫人) | T’ang Shushuen | Hong Kong | 1968
North American Premiere of 4K restoration