Festivals

TIFF 2026: Day One

Let the movies begin

It's crazy to think about, but today marks my 20th Toronto International Film Festival. It's even wilder to think that Chris Schobert and I walked up to the box office in 2007 with vouchers and nary a clue how to use them. The person we spoke to went through the next three days of schedules to help us pick out the likes of Juno, Across the Universe, and Into the Wild and we just strolled around the city discovering where each of the theaters resided.

We were hooked and haven't missed one since—even participating remotely in 2020 and 2021. It's been two decades of changes too whether locales (goodbye AMC and Ryerson, hello Royal Alexandria and TIFF Lightbox), logistics (shutting down King Street will never not feel like a novelty), and sheer size with Ticketmaster systems, insane lines (I'll never forget the unmitigated chaos of that infamous Gravity press screening), and over-the-top studio involvement.

So, bring on 2026. Here's a tease of what's happening:

• Festival Street - Events involving AFC Toronto and the Toronto Tempo. The return of the Festival Street Art Market and a series of public art installations including Naomi Jaye’s life-size, participatory zoetrope Slow. Matt Jones' Disco Speakers with a large disco-tile surface reflecting sunlight by day and creating audio-reactive LED visualizations by night. Yury Goncharov and Alina Bielohryvtseva's Tree of Cinema exploring cinema as "a living archive of collective memory." Live music courtesy of three DJ stages. A "magical installation" created by Bus Collective titled Little Free Cinema that explores the intersections of film and architecture through a rejection of conventional cinematic space. The Fellini Forever touring museum. And the Festival Street Food Market.

• Free screenings at Cinema Park in David Pecaut Square - City Lights (9/10), The F Word (9/11), Madagascar (9/12), Now You See Me (9/13), Strangers on a Train (9/14), Freaky Friday [1976] (9/15), Hoosiers (9/16), Spy Kids (9/17), Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (9/18), and The Great Muppet Caper (9/19). All films will be presented with open captions nightly, rain or shine, at 10pm.

• Platform Prize - New this year, if the winner of this juried category of twelve titles is a non-English-language film, it will automatically be eligible for the Best International Feature Oscar regardless of a country designation.

• Criterion at Cinema Cellar - Cinema Cellar opens at 129 John Street through an exclusive partnership between Criterion and Blue Fox Entertainment Canada. From the press release: "The opening will give visitors an early look at Criterion’s forthcoming box set, The Complete Kubrick, ahead of its official release. A dedicated Polaroid wall will capture the breadth of the Criterion community throughout the festival, with filmmakers, artists, collectors, and movie lovers invited to share their Cinema Cellar experience on social."

As for yours truly, things are shaping up to hit twelve films while on the ground in Toronto. It's been an interesting time getting a schedule together since TIFF has changed their protocols by rebranding Press & Industry screenings as Press & Market screenings. This means more people are eligible to attend (good thing I try to get in line an hour early) while also reducing the number of chances to watch. As of now, it looks like a majority of the titles only have one P&M showing each.

I'll once again be publishing daily dispatches here at Hey, Have You Seen? with full reviews or links to my The Film Stage coverage for each of the previous day's premieres I have seen (or shortly thereafter once my week two catch-up begins). You'll be able to find every installment at this link since I won't be spamming inboxes by constantly pushing emails.

Please continue below to see the titles I've targeted at the festival this year as well as a calendar to help keep track of when you can plan to watch at home.

Today's schedule:

In the queue

I've had the pleasure of pre-screening a bunch of titles with 23 reviews already filed for the coming days (including two from previous festivals). I must thank all the great publicists that work together with critics to ensure coverage for their clients because no one would ever be able to catch everything on their wish lists without them.

Since I'm only in Toronto for parts of five days, the slots in my schedule fill up quickly with assignments for The Film Stage. That almost always guarantees many new voices and unknown commodities are left by the wayside—a sad truth for many working journalists considering their need to keep up with the Joneses by prioritizing the bigger names first. Gotta get those clicks.

I haven't seen all of the below (nor will I), but the hope is to get to as many as possible while in Toronto and upon returning home after the weekend. Most have been sent to me or promised while some are hopefuls I've been told might be available without having heard back about a confirmation. There are some real bona fide gems here to keep a look out for and, if you're in Toronto, to add to your own schedule.

• After Elena, d. Shawn Garry – world premiere | Centrepiece
• Ancestors, d. David Turpin – world premiere | Discovery
• Ba's Book, d. Ashley Duong – world premiere | TIFF Docs
• Babies, d. Lauren Miller Rogen – world premiere | Gala Presentations
• Back in Black, d. Ron Murphy – world premiere | Centrepiece
• Bleeding Hearts, d. Andrew Morgan – world premiere | TIFF Docs
• Children Untold, d. Miwa Nishikawa – world premiere | Platform
• Conversation With The Sea, d. Muayad Alayan – North American premiere | Centrepiece
• The Daughters of Abraham, d. Hanaël El Yousfi – international premiere | Discovery
• Diary of a Mad Old Man, d. Wayne Wang – world premiere | Gala Presentations
• Djinn Wedding, d. Ferit Karahan – world premiere | Platform
• Faith, d. Paul Andrew Williams – world premiere | Special Presentations
• Furies, d. Rami Kodeih – North American premiere | Centrepiece
• Future Tense, d. Jenna Cato Bass – world premiere | Centrepiece
• God Bless You, Mr Kopu, d. Alex Liu – world premiere | Centrepiece
• Happily Ever After, d. Feng-I Fiona Roan – world premiere | Special Presentations
• Head to Head, d. Ghasideh Golmakani – world premiere | Discovery
• The Hummingbird Paints Fragrant Songs, d. Èlia Gasull Balada & Matteo Norzi – world premiere | TIFF Docs
• Idda, d. Irene Dionisio – world premiere | Platform
• Iron Boy, d. Louis Clichy – North American premiere | Centrepiece
• Julián, d. Louise Bagnall – North American premiere | Centrepiece
• Kick On, d. Nick Kozakis – world premiere | Midnight Madness
• Krux, d. Tony Vahl – world premiere | Discovery
• The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd, d. Tim Blake Nelson – world premiere | Gala Presentations
• Love Is the Monster, d. Neto Villalobos Brenes – world premiere | Centrepiece
• Low Lies the Land, d. Emanuele Gerosa – world premiere | TIFF Docs
• Memories of a Forest, d. Katharina Rabl – international premiere | Discovery
• Paradise Lost, d. Yeon Sang-ho – world premiere | Special Presentations
• Purgatory, d. Lindsay Lanzillotta – world premiere | Discovery
• Rapinoe, d. Rebeca Huntt – world premiere | TIFF Docs
• The Remotes, d. John Torres – world premiere | Wavelengths
• River, d. Joshua Giuliano – world premiere | Midnight Madness
• Salvation, d. Tom Nicoll – world premiere | Discovery / Unhidden Gems presented by Redbreast
• Silenced Nights, d. Lawrence Fajardo – world premiere | Platform
• The Smell of Apples, d. John Trengove – world premiere | Platform
• Smudge the Blades, d. Cody Lightning – world premiere | Centrepiece
• The Spiral, d. Paolo Strippoli – international premiere | Midnight Madness
• Stuffed, d. Theo Rhys – world premiere | Discovery
• The Stunt Driver, d. Michael Dowse – world premiere | Special Presentations
• The Surgeon, d. Roshan Sethi – world premiere | Centrepiece
• Tangles, d. Leah Nelson – North American premiere | Centrepiece
• Tehran, Under the Skin, d. Afsaneh Salari – world premiere | TIFF Docs
• Thirteen in Gaza, d. Hosam Abu Dan – world premiere | Centrepiece / TIFF Next Wave Selects
• Toy Gun Bandit, d. Rémi St-Michel – world premiere | Centrepiece / TIFF Next Wave Selects
• Trash Mountain, d. Kris Rey – world premiere | Centrepiece
• Union Town, d. Barbara Kopple – North American premiere | TIFF Docs / Luminaries
• We Are Born Good, d. Leung Chuen Yeung – world premiere | Discovery
• What Lies Between Us, d. Amalie Næsby Fick – world premiere | Discovery
• Where the River Begins, d. Juan Andrés Arango – world premiere | Centrepiece
• Wild Wild East, d. Jan Holoubek – world premiere | Platform
• Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, d. Bassam Tariq – world premiere | Special Presentations

Coming out soon

Amongst the many acquisition titles highlighting new voices from around the world, TIFF always has a robust stable of world premieres and festival favorites that already found US distribution. I'm not saying you should skip the below titles while in Toronto (I'll be seeing a couple myself), but it is nice to know availability on these is secured when deciding between them and films you might never have the chance to see again.

9/22/26
• Bedford Park, d. Stephanie Ahn – limited from Sony Pictures Classics

9/25/26
• Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!, d. Josef Kubota Wladyka – wide from Sony Pictures Classics
• The Stunt Driver, d. Michael Dowse – limited from Independent Film Company
• Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, d. Bassam Tariq – limited from Amazon MGM Studios & Orion Pictures, wide in October

10/2/26
• Atonement, d. Reed Van Dyk – limited (NYC & LA) from Kino Lorber

10/7/26
• Love of Your Life, d. Rachel Morrison – limited from Amazon MGM Studios, streaming on Prime 10/14/26

10/9/26
• Fjord, d. Cristian Mungiu – limited from Neon
• Misty Green, d. Chris Rock – limited from A24
• Tenzing, d. Jennifer Peedom – limited from Apple Original Films, streaming on Apple TV 10/15/26

10/16/26
• La Bola Negra, d. Javier Ambrossi & Javier Calvo – limited from Netflix, streaming on 12/2/26
• Musk, d. Alex Gibney – limited from Bleecker Street Media
• Once Upon a Time in Harlem, d. William Greaves & David Greaves – limited from Neon

10/23/26
• The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, d. Noah Segan – limited from Sony Pictures Classics, wide on 10/30/26
• Possible Love, d. Lee Chang-dong – limited from Netflix, streaming on 11/6/26
• A Talent for a Murder, d. Anton Corbijn – wide from Bleecker Street Media & LD Entertainment

10/30/26
• Everest: The Other Side, d. Jimmy Chin & Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi – limited from National Geographic Documentary Films
• Gentle Monster, d. Marie Kreutzer – limited from Netflix, streaming on 11/18/26

11/6/26
• Club Kid, d. Jordan Firstman – limited from A24
• Wild Horse Nine, d. Martin McDonagh – wide from Searchlight Pictures
• Being Heumann, d. Sian Heder – limited from Apple Original Films, streaming on Apple TV 11/12/26

11/13/26
• Bitter Christmas, d. Pedro Almodóvar – limited from Sony Pictures Classics
• I Play Rocky, d. Peter Farrelly – limited from Amazon MGM Studios, wide on 11/20/26

11/20/26
• Elsinore, d. Simon Stone – limited from Focus Features
• Josephine, d. Beth de Araújo – limited from Sumerian Pictures, wide on 12/4/26 – my thoughts from Sundance
• Minotaur, d. Andrey Zvyagintsev – limited from MUBI
• On Behalf of My Son – streaming on Netflix

11/26/26
• All of a Sudden, d. Ryusuke Hamaguchi – limited from Neon

12/4/26
• Tender Loving Care, d. Mike Leigh – limited from Bleecker Street Media

12/11/26
• Clarissa, d. Chuko Esiri & Arie Esiri – limited from Neon
• The Debut, d. Jesse Eisenberg – limited from A24
• In Waves, d. Phuong Mai Nguyen – streaming on Netflix
• Ink, d. Danny Boyle – limited from Netflix, streaming on 1/8/27

12/25/26
• Coward, d. Lukas Dhont – limited from MUBI

1/8/27
• The Liberation, d. Guy Nattiv – wide from Bleecker Street Media

TBD
• Babies, d. Lauren Miller Rogen – Roadside Attractions & Vertical
• Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo, d. Takashi Miike – Neon
• The Beloved, d. Rodrigo Sorogoyen – Kino Lorber
• Bunker, d. Florian Zeller – Sony Pictures Classics
• Diary of a Chambermaid, d. Radu Jude – Film Movement
• The Dreamed Adventure, d. Valeska Grisebach – Janus Films
• Everything Else Is Noise, d. Nicolás Pereda – Pragda
• Everytime, d. Sandra Wollner – 1-2 Special
• A Girl Unknown, d. Zou Jing – Greenwich Entertainment
• Iron Boy, d. Louis Clichy – Sony Pictures Classics
• La Gradiva, d. Marine Atlan – 1-2 Special
• Light Pillar, d. Zao Xu – Greenwich Entertainment
• A Long Winter, d. Andrew Haigh – MUBI
• Look Back, d. Hirokazu Kore-eda – GKIDS
• Rehearsals for a Revolution, d. Pegah Ahangarani – Sony Pictures Classics
• River, d. Joshua Giuliano – Independent Film Company
• Tangles, d. Leah Nelson – Independent Film Company & Sapan Studios
• The Unknown, d. Arthur Harari – Neon
• We Are All Strangers, d. Anthony Chen – Film Movement