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Riz Ahmed’s sci-fi thriller Encounter heads to 46th Toronto International Film Festival

Riz Ahmed’s sci-fi thriller Encounter heads to 46th Toronto International Film Festival

Riz Ahmed and Octavia Spencer’s science-fiction thriller Encounter, directed by British filmmaker Michael Pearce, is heading to the 46th annual Toronto International Film Festival, taking place September 9-18. The festival will feature a mix of in-person as well as digital screenings.

Stephen Chbosky’s Dear Evan Hansen is set to be the opening night film at Roy Thomson Hall. Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou’s long-delayed Cultural Revolution-set drama One Second has been selected to close the Canadian festival, organizers said on Tuesday.


Dear Evan Hansen, the screen adaptation of the popular stage musical, stars Ben Platt, Amy Adams, Julianne Moore, Kaitlyn Dever, Amandla Stenberg, and Nik Dodani. Directed by Stephen Chbosky, the film has Platt reprising the character of Evan Hansen, a socially awkward teen who gets caught up in a lie when he claims he was best friends with a schoolmate who commits suicide. The film is scheduled to get a virtual world premiere at the festival.

Several other interesting titles are also lined-up to appear at TIFF, including the Cannes-certified drama Bergman Island, starring Tim Roth and Vicky Krieps; the darkly comic biopic The Eyes of Tammy Faye starring Chastain and Andrew Garfield; the film-industry satire Official Competition starring Cruz and long-time collaborator Antonio Banderas; and, perhaps most surprisingly, the children’s film Clifford the Big Red Dog.

The announcement of TIFF comes a day after the federal government announced its decision to loosen border restrictions on August 9 for fully vaccinated U.S. citizens who will now be able to visit Canada without needing to quarantine. Inoculated visitors from the rest of the world will be able to enter the country starting September 7, two days before the festival begins.

"We are absolutely thrilled with the news, so now we are working on all different kinds of scenarios,” said Joana Vicente, TIFF’s executive director and co-head.

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TroyBoi

TroyBoi’s latest EP bridges generations by fusing South Asian heritage sounds with global trap and electronic production

Instagram/troyboi

TroyBoi returns to his Indian roots with Rootz EP using Lata Mangeshkar’s voice to redefine British diaspora music

Highlights:

  • TroyBoi’s five-track EP Rootz is a personal return to the sounds of his childhood, released via Ultra Records in September 2025.
  • The single Kabhi uses an officially cleared sample of Lata Mangeshkar’s vocal from Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.
  • Collaborations with Amrit Maan, Jazzy B and BombayMami plug Punjabi, Bhangra and south-Asian textures directly into modern trap and bass production.
  • This EP is part of a wider wave: British artists born into diasporas are using heritage not as garnish but as foundation.

Some albums hit you in ways you don’t see coming. Rootz is one of them. Not just another trap EP. TroyBoi, the London-born producer known for global bass and trap, has made something that’s also deeply personal. He didn’t just want to make music that bangs in clubs; instead, he wanted to reach back to the India of his childhood. And he did it with Rootz.

The track everyone’s talking about is Kabhi. Because it’s not just sampling Bollywood. Lata Mangeshkar’s voice was officially cleared for use on a non-Bollywood release, a milestone reported by multiple outlets. It’s history. It’s memory. And it’s a bridge.

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