Summers in Toronto wouldn't be as bright as they are without the Toronto Outdoor Picture Show (TOPS) transforming the city's parks into open-air cinemas. The annual event is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year and will run from June 12 to August 24.
Today, TOPS has announced its 2025 film programme titled "When We Were Young," centred around all things coming-of-age. As stated on the festival's website, the theme "celebrates TOPS' milestone birthday by throwing back to the festival's very first curated programme theme — coming of age — to reflect on where we've been, where we're going, and why we fell in love with the movies in the first place."
The festival will kick off at Fort York on June 12 with a screening of Baz Luhrmann's charmingly off-kilter Shakespeare retelling, Romeo + Juliet, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. Once the six-night extended opening weekend closes out on June 17, the festival will expand to Christie Pits Park for Sunday evening screenings and to Corktown Common for Thursday evenings.
Among other titles featured in this year's programme are classics including Dazed and Confused, The Royal Tenenbaums, and Stand by Me. Challengers, Past Lives, Lady Bird and Moonlight are among the newer releases to be screened.
After Artistic & Executive Director Emily Reid got candid last year about TOPS' financial situation being "the absolute worst it's ever been," the festival is "thrilled" to have secured Meridian Credit Union as its Lead Sponsor this year, hopefully ensuring the festival's return to the city for many more summers to come.
For more information about the festival's full lineup and schedule, check out TOPS' website here.