TIFF Festival Guide
#FilmFest Guide: TIFF 50
In early 2025, I fell down the rabbit hole of r/oscarrace. There was something electric about the discussions around the awards season that made me want to be a part of the conversation. And — as I was soon to find out — there's nowhere better to experience the excitement surrounding the buzziest films than TIFF.
What’s TIFF?
The Toronto International Film Festival is hosted by its titular city every September. Nicknamed “The People’s Festival”, it is widely viewed as the most accessible among the Big Five — Berlin, Cannes, Sundance, Toronto, and Venice. From catchphrases shouted during ads to high-energy midnight screenings, there is a definite culture around the festival. 2025 saw its 50th edition: TIFFTY.
Tickets Time
Tickets usually sell out in seconds by the time they reach the general public on Ticketmaster. This is because TIFF runs on a tiered system, with donors getting earlier access through a different platform. If you really want a ticket, scalpers abound on Ticketmaster and services like StubHub. The latter is riskier than official resales, though apps like goConfirm help to mitigate your chances of getting scammed. Note that Ticketmaster takes a cut from resale tickets, meaning resellers have to raise their asking price to avoid incurring a loss (presumably the case when I bought a Sirat resale priced ~CAD$10 (~S$9.20) higher than the original).
On the first night of public sales, I got a grand total of one (1) ticket to an indie animation flick called Space Cadet (which happens to be screening for free at the ArtScience Museum!). Two days later, I snatched up Ralph Fiennes’ The Choral and Ethan Hawke’s Blue Moon during a sporadic ticket drop.
But it wasn't until September 1st, three days from the start of the festival, when I secured the bulk of my wishlist during a massive ticket drop. As you can imagine, this process was an emotional rollercoaster. Despite reassurances from online veterans, I was dreading arriving in Toronto with half of my days empty.
Tip #1: Turn on notifications on online forums like r/TIFF and Discord groups to get real-time updates on random ticket drops.
Tickets originally reserved for guests are also known to drop on the day of a screening itself. But if you don't manage to nick a last-minute ticket, join the Rush Queue — a system where the first few in line are admitted up until 10 minutes into the show (though I managed to always be seated before the first scene). This got me into the season's hottest tickets, including Hamnet and It Was Just An Accident. The longest I queued for tickets was 3 hours, and the shortest was a measly 15 minutes. (Don't worry, strangers are usually just as happy as friends to hold your spot while nature calls — and the latter often become the former after hours in line together!) However, rush isn't a sure bet. A nighttime screening of Hamnet at a small hall let in zero people from rush, despite the queue starting early in the morning.
Anyone can join a rush queue for free. Individual rush tickets (which you're prompted to buy if you’re successfully offered a seat) went for a standard price of CAD$29 (~S$26.89), but you could also choose to make a one-time payment of CAD$80 (~S$74.36) for a Rush Pass. I recommend investing in a portable stool for long waiting times (a foldable one is best, since some venues have restrictions on baggage size).
In general, I think that rushing is a good way to catch additional films that may not have been on your initial radar, but that you wouldn't be too upset to miss.
Tip #2: If you're rushing for at least three films, buy a Rush Pass to make any subsequent entrances effectively free.
Star Sightings
If snapping selfies or copping signatures from your favorite star is your thing, TIFF organizes Fan Zones where you can line up outside theatres and catch celebrities before they enter screenings. These lines are ticketed but free on Ticketmaster. I personally prefer not to meet (or rather, interact with) my heroes, but even I was treated to the sight of Andrew Scott a meter away, chatting casually with a group of fans. Someone in the rush queue behind me for Left-Handed Girl ran off because there was a sighting of James McAvoy down the street.
Outside of Fan Zones, cast and crew typically show up for the first screening of a film at TIFF, especially if it is a world premiere. The festival releases a guestlist right before the first day, but there’s no guarantee on who will show up when. For example, Ralph Fiennes had a scheduling conflict for The Choral, while Hikari attended every screening of Rental Family. My favorite experience was seeing Alexandre Desplat alongside Guillermo Del Toro at the second showing of Frankenstein — I love the scores he pens for Wes Anderson flicks.
Food
If you're going for the full festival experience, you can probably go light on your food budget. I can count the number of times I ate at a restaurant on one hand. For grab-and-go, the hot food aisle at the Asian supermarket Bestco was a lifesaver. There's even a bubble tea shop downstairs! It's a short walk from the theatres, and new enough that it wasn't overwhelmed by locals. There are also concession stands at Scotiabank (which sells poutine) and a bar at Lightbox, Varda.
Tip #3: Bag checks happen at each venue — but they vary in strictness. Roy Thomson Hall is known to veto even water bottles.
Staying & Going
This was my first time in Canada, but I felt reasonably safe traveling solo, even when cabbing alone at 3am (for the Midnight Madness screening of Dust Bunny). Prices are notoriously elevated during the festival period. Because I booked my accommodations only in mid-August, the only hotel that remained within budget was up in Thornhill, a full hour away from the theatres in downtown Toronto. Festival veterans have been known to book flights and lodgings a year in advance. Splurging on the likes of the Ritz-Carlton or Shangri-La even increases your chances of running into celebrities in the lobby.
Lixin’s Top 5
Disclaimer: These are, of course, personal takes. Some of these are Hollywood productions with big names attached, while others are indie gems I was shocked to discover featured newcomers to the craft.
#5: Primavera (dir. Damiano Michieletto)
This staunchly feminist film debut by an operatic stage director sets its stage in 18th-century Venice, where an orphaned convent girl forges a bond with her instructor Vivaldi (the baroque musician of “The Four Seasons” fame). Admittedly, I have a weakness for the historical genre (a taste you will see reflected elsewhere in this list), but this one stayed with me for such a long time that I dedicated a full review to it. Its unflinching portrait of classist and patriarchal historical Venice elevates the tender, shifting relationship between the two leads into something truly special.
Primavera was released in its native Italy on Christmas Day 2025, and is opening across Europe in 2026. As of the writing of this piece, no news about distribution in Singapore is available.
#4: Rental Family (dir. Hikari)
A bilingual drama featuring Academy Award winner Brendan Fraser as a gig actor in Japan who freelances at an eponymous rental family agency, it’s a crowd-pleaser that hits all the right notes. The titular unique odd-job setup brings a veneer of freshness to the tried-and-true formula of a sentimental drama. During the Q&A, director Hikari (of Beef fame) mentioned that Brendan Fraser learnt Japanese for the role — impressive!
Rental Family opened wide in Singapore on 22nd January 2026, after premiere screenings at SGIFF 2025.
#3: The Testament of Ann Lee (dir. Mona Fastvold)
Mona Fastvold, one half of the power couple that brought us The Brutalist, takes the director’s chair for this experimental biography of an 18th-century female leader (of a cult). It is difficult not to respect the efforts behind this ambitious epic brought to life by visuals straight out of an oil painting and rapturous, avant-garde musical numbers. Amanda Seyfried toils as the titular historical religious leader, whose relationship with her devoted younger brother provides the emotional heart of the film. It is disappointing that despite being distributor Searchlight’s main priority this year, this film failed to garner industry awards. Mona Fastvold and Lewis Pullman showed up at the post-screening Q&A, and they were both so lovely and soft-spoken.
As of this time, there is no local or streaming distribution information regarding The Testament of Ann Lee.
#2: A Poet (dir. Simón Mesa Soto)
I got in line for this on a whim, only to be utterly floored by this modern Colombian tragicomedy. A failed poet experiencing a midlife crisis discovers a talented student, but his attempts to mentor her may not lead to redemption. Funny, sad, and profound all at once, A Poet’s tonal shifts are immaculately executed. I was surprised at how relatable its depiction of the local arts scene was, with its hypocrisies, political pandering, and easily toppled pedestals. It is unbelievable that this is apparently the main lead’s first role, and the director’s sophomore feature film. Random strangers I spoke to on the last day of the festival agreed that this was one of the highlights of their festival.
Anticipate Pictures holds Singapore distribution rights for A Poet. No release dates are currently available.
#1: Train Dreams (dir. Clint Bentley)
The TIFF programmer introduced this film by emphasizing how lucky we were to be watching this on a big screen, and I cannot agree more (although it is definitely still worth watching on streaming). Every single frame, presented in a conspicuously square-ish 3:2, could be hung on a wall. Train Dreams is the beautifully poignant story of the long life of a 20th-century everyman logger. If its slow cinema-esque synopsis is making you hesitate, please take a chance on this one anyway: because I never imagined connecting so deeply to a film of its description either. Despite the tragedies which haunt the protagonist’s long life, it miraculously manages to be a tear-jerkingly life-affirming and environmentalist film.
Train Dreams
is streaming on Netflix as of December 2025.
Enjoy the Experience!
I watched 18 films over 10 days at TIFF 50 — everything I wanted to catch (except one — a film for which I had No Other Choice but to wait for the Singapore release) and then some. Out of my favorite five, only two were on my watchlist from the start. All but one will likely never receive a wide release in Singapore.
It also raises the question of how the festival experience can shape one’s reception to films. When you're watching two or three films a day, they can start to blur into each other. I wonder if I might have rated No Other Choice and The Secret Agent differently if I'd seen them at TIFF instead of back home in Singapore.
I arrived in Toronto not knowing anyone from the city, but left with interesting conversations and even friends from rush queues and seat neighbors. The TIFF volunteers are also happy to take photos for you, which is how I have digital keepsakes too.
My experience at TIFF 50 was eye-opening, and it deepened my interest in film. I'm looking forward to attending more festivals in the future!
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About the author: Lixin is an incorrigible dreamer who will probably never stop imagining conversations between characters while commuting on the MRT. Outside of a corporate day job, her creative fiction can be found in various literary magazines.
This review is published as part of *SCAPE’s Film Critics Lab: A Writing Mentorship Programme, with support from Singapore Film Society.
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