Director Zarrar Kahn will return to the Toronto International Film Festival’s Short Cuts programme with “The Lion Does Not Concern Himself”, a romantic comedy about a gym coach drawn into toxic podcasting and manosphere culture before a new client becomes a potential love interest. The film reframes themes of male anger, online isolation and gender division through a conventional rom-com, aiming to treat its subject with both satire and humour.

The project was conceived by Toronto-based writer and lead actor Mohammad Ali Hashmi after he encountered incel propaganda at a gym and saw how easily gym culture could overlap with support for figures such as Andrew Tate. Kahn directed, co-wrote and co-edited the film, which was shot at a Queen West gym in Toronto; Lauren Saarimaki produced, Mina Husain executive produced, and CityLights Media is handling sales and festival distribution.