Riz Ahmed’s ‘Dammi’ to lead Toronto Film Fest’s Short Cuts lineup

The Toronto International Film Festival on Wednesday announced this year’s Short Cuts lineup, showcasing 42 live-action narrative, documentary, and animated shorts by filmmakers representing 23 countries.

The 2023 Short Cuts lineup includes 21 World Premieres, 13 North American Premieres, and 5 International Premieres presented in 19 different languages, with a breadth of new and unique perspectives.

The shorts include Dammi, which stars Riz Ahmed and was directed by Yann Mounir Demange, an Emmy nominee in 2021 for Lovecraft Country; Electra, a new film by Czech director Daria Kascheeva, who was nominated for an Oscar for the animated short Mother; 27, for which director Flora Anna Duba won the Short Film Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival; and WOACA, the directorial debut of Canadian actor Mackenzie Davis.

Ahmed, who received an Oscar nomination for his role in Sound of Metal and won an Oscar for the live-action short The Long Goodbye, plays the lead role in Dammi.

“We are thrilled to be able to present such a diverse array of incredible new works by emergent and established film talents from all over the world,” said Short Cuts lead programmer Jason Anderson. “We were knocked out by the level of craft and ingenuity in these films, as well as the boldness displayed by so many filmmakers as they explore subjects and themes that couldn’t be timelier or more personal. That’s especially true of the films we’re grateful to present that are by female and female-identifying filmmakers, which comprise nearly 60 percent of this year’s selection.”

More than half of this year’s selections are directed or co-directed by female and female-identifying filmmakers.

The 2023 Toronto International Film Festival will run from September 7 through September 17.