49th edition of the festival
The 49th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from September 5–15, 2024.
The festival opened with David Gordon Green's film "Nutcrackers", and closed with Rebel Wilson's directorial debut film "The Deb".
Key programming announcements.
The first programming announcements were released on June 18, 2024. A second batch of films was announced on July 9, and the opening and closing galas were announced on July 16. Full program announcements began on July 22, with the gala and special presentations lineups announced that day and several other programs announced over the course of that week. The full festival schedule, including numerous late additions, was announced on August 13. In addition to new and current films, the schedule included anniversary special event screenings of Damien Chazelle's "Whiplash" and Mina Shum's "Double Happiness".
"Nutcrackers" marked the first time that an acquisitions title not already attached to a commercial distributor opened the festival since "Creation" launched the 2009 edition. Barry Hertz of "The Globe and Mail" linked this choice to the festival's announcement earlier in the year that it plans to launch a full film market in 2026, suggesting that it signaled an effort by the festival to play an active role in helping the film to secure a distribution deal and thus demonstrate the business case for the market project.
The choice of "The Deb" as closing film was effectively leaked a few days earlier than the official announcement, when Wilson posted a video to her Instagram account to accuse the film's producers of having tried to block the film's premiere at TIFF.
Awards.
Tribute Awards.
The TIFF Tribute Awards recipients included David Cronenberg as recipient of the Norman Jewison Award, and Amy Adams as a recipient of the performer award. Actor Jharrel Jerome was also honoured in the performance category, and actress Zhao Tao received a special tribute award.
Cate Blanchett was the recipient of the Share Her Journey Groundbreaker Award for women who have made a positive difference in the film industry. Angelina Jolie was the recipient of the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media.
Mike Leigh received the Director Award, Camille Dalmais and Clément Ducol received the "Variety" Artisan Award, and Durga Chew-Bose received the Emerging Talent Award.
Regular awards.
Awards for films, including the People's Choice Award, were announced at the conclusion of the festival. The awards program included a return of the Best Canadian Discovery Award, previously presented by the festival as "Best Canadian First Feature" until being discontinued after the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival.
Events.
"In Conversation with..." events were held featuring Cate Blanchett, Zoe Saldaña, Steven Soderbergh, and Hyun Bin and Lee Dong-wook.
Official selections.
Galas.
The following films were selected to the "Gala Presentations" section:
Special Presentations.
The following films were selected to the "Special Presentations" section:
Centrepiece.
The Centrepiece program was announced on August 6.
TIFF Docs.
Documentaries were announced on August 7. One late addition, Alexis Bloom's "The Bibi Files", was added to the program just a few days before the festival opened.
The film "Russians at War" was pulled from the festival following protests accusing it of being Russian propaganda whitewashing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a characterization which the film's producers and TIFF organizers denied. According to CEO Cameron Bailey, "In emails and phone calls, TIFF staff received hundreds of instances of verbal abuse. Our staff also received threats of violence, including threats of sexual violence." TIFF subsequently proceeded with a screening on September 17, outside of the festival dates.
Discovery.
The Discovery program lineup was announced on July 24.
Platform.
The Platform Prize program lineup was announced on July 23. The jury comprised filmmakers Atom Egoyan, Hur Jin-ho and Jane Schoenbrun.
Midnight Madness.
The Midnight Madness program lineup was announced on July 25.
Primetime.
Primetime selections were announced on August 9.
The public premiere of "" was followed by a public singalong of the Tragically Hip songs "Ahead by a Century", "Bobcaygeon" and "Grace, Too", led by Choir! Choir! Choir!, as part of the Festival Street activities.
Short Cuts.
Short Cuts selections were announced on August 9.
Wavelengths.
Wavelengths selections were announced on August 8.
TIFF Classics.
Classics selections were announced on August 8.
Festival Street.
Free outdoor screenings of classic films with thematic or production connections to films in the main festival program at David Pecaut Square.
Film market.
With the launch of a full film market having been announced for 2026, the 2024 festival included a larger selection than previous years of films that were screened for film buyers and all industry professionals at the festival, but not open to the general public. This included a mixture of films that had yet to be released at all, and films that had already been released in other countries but had not yet secured distribution in North America.
Canada's Top Ten.
The festival's annual Canada's Top Ten list, selecting the ten best Canadian feature and short films of the year, was announced on January 8, 2025.
References.
 ;templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" / ;