First 10 major films announced for WIFF 2025

WIFF has released its first 10 films for this year’s lineup.

The Windsor International Film Festival has revealed the first 10 major films that will be featured at the 2025 festival.

To kick off 11 days of great films, Chandler Levack’s sophomore feature film, Mile End Kicks, a story of love, heartbreak, and the Montreal music scene. Levack was previously nominated for the WIFF Prize in Canadian Film for I Like Movies (2022).

Closing out the 2025 Festival is Luca Guadagnino’s (Challengers) new psychological drama After the Hunt, starring Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield, and Ayo Edebiri. A college professor finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads when a star student levels an accusation against one of her colleagues, and a dark secret from her own past threatens to come into the light.

Featured as the centrepiece film this year will be Ai Weiwei’s Turandot, where we follow revolutionary artist Ai Weiwei as he works to produce his interpretation of the Italian Opera “Turandot”. Ai Weiwei uses the opera as a backdrop to address many issues that plague mankind, including the Ukraine war, refugee crises, the Covid pandemic, and more.

WIFF also announced seven additional titles from the 2025 programming slate:

• Sentimental Value, directed by Joachim Trier
• A Private Life, directed by Rebecca Zlotowski
• The President’s Cake, directed by Hasan Hadi
• My Mother’s Wedding, directed by Kristin Scott Thomas
• If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, directed by Mary Bronstein
• No Other Choice, directed by Park Chan-wook
• The History of Sound, directed by Oliver Hermanus

“We’re more energized than ever coming off of our anniversary year in 2024. We can’t wait to share what we’ve been planning all year, and all of the great films we’ve discovered along the way,” said Vincent Georgie, executive director and chief programmer for WIFF. “Featuring our biggest program yet, you’ll truly have the chance to see stories from all over the world, from exciting new filmmakers, from celebrated auteurs, and more.”

WIFF 2025 will run from Thursday, Oct. 23 to Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. The 2025 festival is proudly presented by the Toldo Foundation.

The full festival lineup will be revealed on Tuesday, Sept. 16, with all tickets going on sale the same day. Following the announcement will be two free community screenings of a selection of WIFF 2024 trailers, hosted at the Capitol Theatre.