TIFF Directors’ Lab is a five-day competitive talent development programme that takes place during the Toronto International Film Festival in September.
Formerly TIFF Filmmaker Lab, TIFF Directors’ Lab returns with a greater focus on directorial debuts. The Lab selects 16 Canadian and international directors from hundreds of applications to receive an impactful career-launching mentorship from renowned directors, producers, agents, distributors, and top industry experts from around the world. TIFF Directors’ Lab is designed to be a catalyst for emerging directors to refine their creative projects and prepare their projects for the marketplace.
Past mentors and speakers include Hany Abu-Assad, Jane Campion, Alfonso Cuarón, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Julie Dash, Claire Denis, Ava DuVernay, Atom Egoyan, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Agnieszka Holland, Jia Zhang-ke, Spike Lee, Steve McQueen, Deepa Mehta, Cristian Mungiu, Wim Wenders, Saul Williams, and Edgar Wright.
BEFORE STARTING YOUR TIFF DIRECTOR’S LAB APPLICATION, REVIEW THE CHECKLIST BELOW:
1. You meet the eligibility requirements for TIFF Director’s Lab and agree to provide all the required submission materials.
2. You have created a new project under the “My Projects” section of your profile for this specific programme application. The project is titled “FIRST AND LAST NAME – TIFF DIRECTORS LAB – 2025” and is a Film / Video project type.
NOTE: After saving your new project, return to the TIFF Director’s Lab FilmFreeway event page to fill out the application.
3. You have uploaded the materials listed below to the “My Projects” section. (NOTE: Go to https://filmfreeway.com/projects and click “View” on your project to upload your video files. For your script, treatment, and lookbook please add as PDF files to your project)
a) A video pitch about the submitted project, no more than two minutes in duration. The video should tell us: i. a bit about your project; ii. your directional approach (your filmmaking voice); and iii. why you’d like to participate in TIFF Director’s Lab. Upload this file in the “Add an Online Screener” section of your project.
NOTE: The jury will not be evaluating the quality of the video but the statements made by the applicant. This can be recorded on a cell phone.
b) A one-minute clip from a previous project on which you are credited as director, uploaded in the “Add a trailer” section of your project. Please follow these guidelines for your clip submission:
- The clip must be no longer than one minute.
- Ensure that the clip is in high resolution.
- After the project title on the video file, include in parentheses where the clip is from: a short, feature, or episode.
- Add context for the submitted clip in the “Clip Description” section in the Custom Form.
- Ensure that the clip includes English subtitles if the language spoken is not English.
- Demo reels, trailers, and music videos will not be accepted.
- Submissions of full films or episodes with time codes will not be considered by the jury.
