2026 Toronto International Film Festival
51st edition of Canadian film festival
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The 51st annual Toronto International Film Festival will be held from September 10 to September 20, 2026.[1]
| |
| Opening film | Being Heumann by Sian Heder |
|---|---|
| Closing film | Villeneuve: The Rise of a Legend by Yan Lanouette Turgeon |
| Location | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Founded | 1976 |
| Festival date | September 10–20, 2026 |
| Website | tiff |
The festival will include the formal launch of a film market, separately from the public event, building on the introduction of the Industry Selects program at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival.[2] The market will take place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, while the main public festival will continue to take place at the Princess of Wales Theatre, Roy Thomson Hall, the Royal Alexandra Theatre, the TIFF Lightbox and Scotiabank Theatre Toronto, with the Convention Centre's John Bassett Theatre added as a festival screening venue.
The festival's opening film is Being Heumann by Sian Heder, and its closing film is Villeneuve: The Rise of a Legend (Villeneuve : l'ascension d'une légende) by Yan Lanouette Turgeon.
The festival will also host the 2026 edition of the Student Academy Awards,[3] and non-English language winners of the festival's Platform Prize will now be automatically eligible for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.[4]
The festival's first programming announcement of three Gala titles was revealed on July 7, 2026,[5] and a second announcement of five Special Presentations films was released on July 16.[6] Several full sections were announced in the week of July 20, with additional announcements in the week of August 3, before the complete schedule was announced August 11.
Market
The market will include a dedicated program for genre films, produced in collaboration with the Fantasia International Film Festival's Frontières market.[7] It will also include the presentation of the established TIFF-CBC Films Screenwriter Award for as yet unproduced screenplays by emerging Canadian filmmakers.[8]
Awards
Tribute Awards
The first recipients of the TIFF Tribute Awards were announced on July 29, 2026.[9] They include Rosalind Eleazar and Isabelle Huppert as the winners of the Performer Award, Lee Chang-dong as the winner of the Director Award, Sian Heder as the winner of the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media, and Penélope Cruz as recipient of the Special Tribute Award.[9]
A second round of Tribute Award recipients was announced in August, including Seth Rogen for the Norman Jewison Award, cinematographer Adam Pietkiewicz as recipient of the Artisan Award, filmmaker Bassam Tariq as the winner of the Rising Talent Award, Helen Mirren as recipient of the Share Her Journey Groundbreaker award, and Fan Bingbing as a second Special Tribute Award recipient.[10]
Regular awards
The festival's juried and audience-voted awards will be announced on September 20 at the festival's conclusion.
Juries
- Canadian Feature Film: Hubert Davis, Deepa Mehta, Christina Rogers
- Canadian Discovery: Zarrar Kahn, Justine Pimlott, Sophy Romvari
- FIPRESCI: Pragya Mishra, Cătălin Olaru, Savina Petkova, Enoe Lopes Pontes, Victor Stiff
- NETPAC: Mara Matta, Richard Fung, Panagiotis Kotzathanasis
- Platform: Pablo Trapero, Amma Asante, Sylvia Chang, Luc Déry, Albert Lee
- Short Cuts: Joecar Hanna, Chris Lavis, Iris Ng
Program
Gala Presentations
Galas and special presentations were announced on July 20.[11]
Special Presentations
Galas and special presentations were announced on July 20.[11]
Special Events
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hope | 호프 | Na Hong-jin | South Korea |
| The Last Photograph | Zack Snyder | United States, Colombia | |
| Obsession | Curry Barker | United States | |
| Redefined: Short Film Showcase "Butter Chicken to Go", "RE/ROUTE", "pahkwêsikan sâkihitowin: Bannock is Love", "Where Our Flowers Grow (Là où nos fleurs poussent)", "Restaurant Kids" | Prajj, Gabrielle Côté, Tyra Delver, Maxime Kornachuk, Sylvia Mok | Canada | |
"In Conversation" events will also be held with actors Andrew Scott and Hudson Williams, filmmakers Rachel Morrison and Lee Min-ho, and comedian and filmmaker Chris Rock.
Centrepiece
The Centrepiece program was announced on August 4.[12]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|---|---|---|
| After Elena | Después de Elena | Shawn Garry | Chile, Colombia, Italy |
| Ah Girl | 泡泡糖女孩 | Ang Geck Geck Priscilla | Singapore |
| Ashes | Ceniza en la boca | Diego Luna | Mexico, Spain |
| L'Autre | Alexandre Franchi | Canada | |
| Back in Black | Ron Murphy | Canada | |
| Ben'Imana | Marie-Clementine Dusabejambo | Rwanda, Gabon, France, Norway | |
| The Betrayers | David Bezmozgis | Canada, Ukraine | |
| The Bovine with the Curved Horns | El bovino de los cuernos curvos | Omar E. Ospina Giraldo | Colombia |
| The City of the Living | La città dei vivi | Edoardo Gabbriellini | Italy |
| Congo Boy | Rafiki Fariala | Central African Republic, France, Democratic Republic of Congo, Italy | |
| Conversation with the Sea | حوار مع البحر | Muayad Alayan | Palestine |
| The Difficult Bride | Rubaiyat Hossain | France, Bangladesh, Germany, Norway, Portugal | |
| Dorothy | டோரதி | Karthik Subbaraj | India |
| The Dreamed Adventure | Das Geträumte Abenteuer | Valeska Grisebach | Germany, France, Bulgaria, Austria |
| Eklipse | Manuel Wetscher | Austria, Italy | |
| Elephants in the Fog | तिनीहरू | Abinash Bikram Shah | Nepal, France, Germany, Brazil, Norway |
| Everytime | Sandra Wollner | Austria, Germany | |
| Flies | Moscas | Fernando Eimbcke | Mexico |
| Four Seasons in Java | Empat Musim Pertiwi | Kamila Andini | Indonesia, France, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore |
| Furies | Rami Kodeih | Lebanon, Brazil | |
| Future Tense | Jenna Cato Bass | South Africa, Australia | |
| A Girl Unknown | 无名女孩 | Zou Jing | China |
| God Bless You, Mr Kopu | Alex Liu | New Zealand, Australia | |
| La Gradiva | Marine Atlan | France, Italy | |
| Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! | Josef Kubota Wladyka | United States | |
| How We Stand | Marie Clements | Canada | |
| Inherit | คุณยายวรนาฏ | Banjong Pisanthanakun | Thailand |
| Intermission | 中场休息 | Yonfan | Hong Kong |
| Iron Boy | Le Corset | Louis Clichy | France, Belgium |
| Julián | Louise Bagnall | Luxembourg, Ireland, Canada, Denmark | |
| Lemonade | Kim Bartley | Ireland, United Kingdom | |
| Light Pillar | 寒夜灯柱 | Xu Zao | China |
| Long Long Night | 긴긴밤 | Kyu Bock Youm | South Korea |
| The Lost Children of Tuam | Frank Berry | Ireland | |
| Love Is the Monster | Amor es el monstruo | Neto Villalobos Brenes | Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, Chile, Mexico |
| Mary Magdalene | Marie Madeleine | Gessica Généus | France, Haiti, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg |
| Muyi | Muyi, la légende du village des femmes | Julien Chheng | France |
| Neverman | Rodrigo Barriuso | Canada | |
| Our Loves | האהבות שלנו | Avi Nesher | Israel |
| Rehearsals for a Revolution | خاطرات ایران | Pegah Ahangarani | Czech Republic, Spain |
| The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives | Daniel Oriahi | Nigeria | |
| Smudge the Blades | Cody Lightning | Canada | |
| Soumsoum, The Night of the Stars | Soumsoum, la nuit des astres | Mahamat-Saleh Haroun | Chad, France |
| Sunburn | Serville Poblete | Canada | |
| Tangles | Leah Nelson | Canada, United States | |
| The Surgeon | Roshan Sethi | Ireland | |
| Thirteen in Gaza | غزة 13 | Hosam Abu Dan | Palestine |
| Toy Gun Bandit | Faux gun bandit | Rémi St-Michel | Canada |
| Trash Mountain | Kris Rey | United States | |
| Trees Are Watching | Bahman Ghobadi | Turkey | |
| The Violinist | La Violinista | Ervin Han, Raúl García | Singapore, Spain, Italy |
| Viva Carmen | Carmen, l'Oiseau Rebel | Sébastien Laudenbach | France |
| We Are All Strangers | 我们不是陌生人 | Anthony Chen | Singapore |
| Where the River Begins | Donde comenzia el rio | Juan Andrés Arango | Canada, Colombia, Norway |
| Woman Unknown | Kvinde ukendt | May el-Toukhy | Denmark |
TIFF Docs
Documentaries were announced on August 5.[13]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ba's Book | Ashley Duong | Canada | |
| Black Sunflowers | James Marcus Haney | Ukraine, United States | |
| Bleeding Hearts | Andrew Morgan | United States | |
| Cheyenne | Taimi Arvidson | United States | |
| Darlene Love: I Know Where I've Been | Barry Avrich | Canada | |
| Edward Said: Between Worlds | Maiken Baird | United States | |
| The Final Act | Le Dernier acte | Sophie Deraspe | Canada |
| Gail | Michael Maxxis | Canada | |
| The Hummingbird Paints Fragrant Songs | Èlia Gasull Balada, Matteo Norzi | Peru, United States, Qatar | |
| Like Magic | Melissa Saavedra Gil | Colombia, Argentina, Uruguay | |
| Low Lies the Land | Emanuele Gerosa | Denmark, Italy | |
| Musk | Alex Gibney | United States | |
| The Pervert's Guide to Utopias | Sophie Fiennes | Ireland, United Kingdom, Slovenia, Netherlands, Norway | |
| Rapinoe | Rebeca Huntt | United Kingdom, United States | |
| Re/Pair | Lacey Schwartz Delgado | United States | |
| Rescue | Sine Plambech | Denmark, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Iceland | |
| Still Night, Burning House | Carol Nguyen | Canada | |
| Tehran, Under the Skin | Afsaneh Salari | France, Iran, Sweden | |
| Turtle Island Rap | Alexandra Lazarowich | Canada | |
| The Ultra Runner | Mila Aung-Thwin | Canada | |
| Union Town | Barbara Kopple | United States | |
Discovery
The Discovery program was announced on July 22.[14]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ancestors | David Turpin | Ireland, United Kingdom | |
| Arne Goes to Space | Lars Vega | Sweden | |
| A Common Story | Una storia | Anna Foglietta | Italy |
| Bedford Park | Stephanie Ahn | United States | |
| The Daughters of Abraham | Les Filles d'Abraham | Hanaël El Yousfi | France |
| Drifter | Sung Kang | United States | |
| The Fortunate Isles | Las islas afortunadas | Helena Girón, Samuel Delgado | Spain, Greece |
| Head to Head | Sar beh Sar | Ghasideh Golmakani | Iran, Germany |
| I Am Mario | Soy Mario | Sharon Kleinberg | Mexico |
| In Waves | Phuong Mai Nguyen | France, Belgium | |
| Krux | Tony Vahl | Germany, Poland | |
| Magazine | Alexandra Pechman | United States | |
| Memories of a Forest | Erinnerungen eines Waldes | Katharina Rabl | Germany, Austria |
| Nosotros | Joaquín Ruano | Guatemala, Mexico | |
| Purgatory | Lindsay Lanzillotta | Canada, United States | |
| Salvation | Tom Nicoll | United Kingdom | |
| Seventeen | Justin Ducharme | Canada | |
| Sisters | Hermanas | Ione Hernández | Spain |
| Strong Son | Ian Bawa | Canada | |
| Stuffed | Theo Rhys | United Kingdom | |
| Voices | Deantè Gray | United States | |
| We Are Born Good | 善男信女 | Leung Chuen Yeung | Hong Kong |
| What Lies Between Us | Dobbeltfejl | Amalie Næsby Fick | Denmark |
| Zjili: A Story of Sisterhood and the Burdens of Excess | Christine Boateng, Hajara Musah Chambas | Ghana | |
Platform
The Platform Prize program was announced on July 21. The jury will consist of Pablo Trapero, Amma Asante, Sylvia Chang, Luc Déry and Albert Lee.[15] As noted above, the Platform Prize competition is one of six international film festival awards which now qualify non-English winners for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film independently of the national submission process.[4]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Angh | Theja Rio | India | |
| Brace Your Heart | Garrat du Váimmu | Amanda Kernell | Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Bulgaria |
| Children Untold | わたしの知らない子どもたち | Miwa Nishikawa | Japan |
| Djinn Wedding | Cinlerin Düğünü | Ferit Karahan | Turkey |
| Idda | Irene Dionisio | Italy | |
| In the Heart of the South | Nyla Innuksuk | Canada | |
| Masc | Bertil Nilsson | United Kingdom | |
| On Behalf of My Son | Vicentina Pede Desculpas | Gabriel Martins | Brazil |
| Silenced Nights | Lawrence Fajardo | Philippines | |
| The Smell of Apples | John Trengove | South Africa, Netherlands, Chile | |
| Wild, Wild East | Dziki Dziki Wschód | Jan Holoubek | Poland |
| The World Before | 첫세계 | Yoon Dan-bi | South Korea |
Midnight Madness
The Midnight Madness program was announced on August 6.[16]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anchors Aweigh | Matt Barats | United States | |
| Arrested Memory | Sabu | Taiwan, Japan | |
| The Face of Horror | Anna Biller | United Kingdom | |
| HALF | Samjad | India | |
| Kick On | Nick Kozakis | Australia | |
| Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney | Mesdames et Messieurs, Brian Mulroney | Matthew Rankin | Canada |
| River | Joshua Giuliano | United States | |
| Rogue Trooper | Duncan Jones | United Kingdom | |
| The Spiral | L'estranea | Paolo Strippoli | Italy, France, Belgium |
| Vintage Violence | Eugene Kotlyarenko | United States, Japan | |
Primetime
The Primetime program was announced on July 23.[17]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.6 Seconds: Death in the Outback | Darren Dale | Australia | |
| Alice | Virginie Verrier, Guillaume Lonergan | France, Canada | |
| American Hostage | Shawn Ryan, Eileen Myers, Adam Arkin | United States | |
| Below | Jesse McKeown | Canada | |
| Blindspot Berlin | David Nawrath | Germany | |
| Carrie | Mike Flanagan | Canada, United States | |
| Crystal Lake | Brad Caleb Kane, Michael Lennox | United States | |
| Oxygen Masks Will (Not) Drop Automatically | Marcelo Gomes, Carol Minêm | Brazil | |
| Slow Horses | Will Smith, Adam Randall | United Kingdom, United States | |
| YAGA | Kat Sandler, Rachel Talalay, David Frazee | Canada | |
Short Cuts
The Short Cuts program was announced on August 5.[18]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2:Love | Ronni Shalev | Belgium, France, Israel | |
| Almost Pink | Justine Prince | Canada | |
| Aman | Rahul Roye | India, United Kingdom, United States, France | |
| El Aumento | Maria Belen Poncio | Argentina, United States | |
| Beans and Belief | Tenzin Sedon | United States, Canada, China | |
| Between Late April and Early May | Sophia Smith | Canada | |
| BID16 | Mick Robertson, Margaret Rose | Canada | |
| Bloodline | Fala Chen | United States | |
| Buddies | Fraser Wolfe | Canada | |
| Call Me Tim | Shamier Anderson | Canada | |
| The Comet | Julie Charette | Canada | |
| The Day I Smoked a Cigarette with my Father | Sameh Alaa, Robin Vouters | France, Egypt, Belgium | |
| Dough Man | Brittney Gavin, Amy Mielke | Canada | |
| The Dream Is a Snail | Thien An Nguyen | Vietnam, South Korea | |
| Driftwood | A.C. Birch | Canada | |
| The End | Niki Lindroth von Bahr | Sweden, France, Denmark | |
| The Episode | Logan Graham Greene | Canada | |
| Fight Kid | Michael Del Monte | Canada | |
| Fivehead | Christian Smith | Canada | |
| Forgotten Spaceman | Elham Ehsas | Afghanistan, United Kingdom | |
| Fried Chicken & Strip Checkers | Ophelia Harutyunyan | Armenia, France | |
| The Highway | Yung Chang | Canada, China | |
| Imichki | Yza Nouiga | Canada | |
| Into the Betaverse | Varun Raman, Tom Hancock | United Kingdom | |
| Koden'n | Daniel «Tètèl» Chérubin | Canada | |
| Leftover Women | Atalanta Swire | United Kingdom | |
| The Lion Does Not Concern Himself | Zarrar Kahn | Canada | |
| Madrugada | Sebastián Lojo | Guatemala | |
| MAMMALIA | Elia Kalogianni | Greece, Netherlands | |
| Melk | Filip Anthonissen | Belgium | |
| Moongirl | Victor Boccard | Japan | |
| Pacific Spirit | Antoine Bourges | Canada | |
| Patronymic | Mariia Ponomarova | Netherlands, Ukraine | |
| Please | Anna Mantzaris | Sweden, France, Czech Republic, Norway, Finland | |
| Skinny Boots | Skinny Bottines | Romain F. Dubois | Canada |
| Soul Catcher | Haboolm Ksinaalgat | Amanda Strong, Pamela Post | Canada |
| The Spectacular Death of Prisca | Kaelo Iyizoba | Nigeria | |
| A Tenderness | Sabrine Khoury | Netherlands, Palestine | |
| Terminal | Alexandre Siqueira | Portugal, Spain, France | |
| Termite | Shaunak Sen | India | |
| Till the Milk Runs Dry | Kalainithan Kalaichelvan | Canada | |
| Under the Same Clouds | Jérémi Roy | Canada | |
| Untitled Woman | Camille Summers-Valli | United Kingdom, United States | |
| When the Ground Paused | Jess Barclay Lawton | Australia | |
| Yek Rooz-e Shirin | Omid Abdollahi | Iran | |
Wavelengths
The Wavelengths program was announced on August 4.[12]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feature films | |||
| At Night | Beatrice Gibson | United Kingdom, France | |
| The Black Box Is Orange | Yuula Benivolski | Canada | |
| The Diary of a Chambermaid | Le journal d'une femme de chambre | Radu Jude | France, Romania |
| Double Freedom | La libertad doble | Lisandro Alonso | Chile, Argentina, Luxembourg, Germany, United Kingdom |
| Everything Else Is Noise | Lo demás es ruido | Nicolás Pereda | Germany, Canada, Mexico |
| Life of Jorge Luis Borges | Biografía de Jorge Luis Borges | Mariano Llinás | Argentina |
| London | Sebastian Brameshuber | Austria | |
| My Wife Cries | Meine Frau Weint | Angela Schanelec | Germany, France |
| Nobody's Violence | Violence du corps à l'autre | Denis Côté | Canada |
| Once Upon a Time in Harlem | William Greaves, David Greaves | United States | |
| The Remotes | John Torres | Philippines | |
| Short films | |||
| The Address Book | Mustafa Uzuner | Canada | |
| After Image | Rita Ferrando | Canada, Argentina | |
| Chronicle of Tiredness | Crónica del cansancio | Natalia Marín | Spain |
| Electric Fragments No. 1 - Rom (Men) | Frammenti Elettrici No. 1 - Rom (Uomini) | Yervant Gianikian, Angela Ricci Lucchi | Italy |
| Fevers | James Richards | Germany, United Kingdom | |
| Fire Flies | 咒语 | Zheng Lu Xinyuan | China |
| Forever...Forever | Johann Lurf | Austria, France | |
| Ghazal-e Sorkh | غزالِ سرخ | Maryam Tafakory | Iran, United Kingdom, France |
| Masao Adachi Takes a Passport Photo | 足立正生、パスポート写真を撮る | Kamal Aljafari | Germany, France, Japan |
| Microcosmic Orbit: Encased | Danaya Chulphuthiphong | Thailand | |
| Moon Palace | 月宫 | Jiaqi Yu | China, United States |
| Peacocks Come with the Clouds | طاووسها با ابرها میآیند | Parastoo Anoushahpour | Iran, Canada |
| La Prospettiva (1653) | Ben Russell | France, Italy | |
| Splits in Two | Simon Liu | Hong Kong, United States | |
| This Suffocating Now | Vika Kirchenbauer | Germany | |
| TM | Takehisa Kosugi | Japan | |
| Two Pids | John Smith | United Kingdom | |
TIFF Classics
The Classics program was announced on August 4.[12]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Devils (1971) | Ken Russell | United Kingdom | |
| Kissed (1996) | Lynne Stopkewich | Canada | |
| Pelechian Project: Land of the People, The Beginning, We, The Seasons, The End | Artavazd Peleshyan | Soviet Union, Armenia | |
| Report to Mother (1986) | Amma Ariyan | John Abraham | India |
| Spring in a Small Town (1948) | 小城之春 | Fei Mu | China |
| Ten Dark Women (1961) | 黒い十人の女 | Kon Ichikawa | Japan |