The 51st annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from September 10 to September 20, 2026.
The festival's opening film was Being Heumann by Sian Heder, and its closing film was Villeneuve: The Rise of a Legend (Villeneuve : l'ascension d'une légende) by Yan Lanouette Turgeon.
The festival also hosted the 2026 edition of the Student Academy Awards,Scott Feinberg, "Student Academy Awards Will Be Held at Toronto International Film Festival". The Hollywood Reporter, May 13, 2026. and non-English language winners of the festival's Platform Prize are now automatically eligible for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.
The festival's first programming announcement of three Gala titles was revealed on July 7, 2026,Anthony D'Alessandro, "TIFF 51st Edition Sets Siân Heder’s ‘Being Heumann’ As Opening Night Film". Deadline Hollywood, July 7, 2026. and a second announcement of five Special Presentations films was released on July 16.Amber Dowling, "Ben Shirinian’s The Housewife joins TIFF Special Presentations". Playback, July 16, 2026. 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 festival included 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.Scott Roxborough, "The Toronto Film Fest’s Big Market Play: Can It Fill the Cannes-Berlin Gap?". The Hollywood Reporter, May 7, 2026. The market took place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, while the main public festival remained 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.
In February 2025, the festival announced the first members of the inaugural advisory committee for the market project, including former Cannes Film Market head Jerome Paillard, film producers Niv Fichman, Vincent Maraval and Noah Segal, former SODEC president Monique Simard, Creative Artists Agency financier Roeg Sutherland, and Kerry Swanson of Canada's Indigenous Screen Office.Jeremy Kay, "TIFF unveils market advisory committee as talks continue on location, timing of 2026 event". Screen Daily, February 14, 2025. Additional advisory committee members were announced in May, including Moses Babatope, Michael Barker, Arianna Bocco, Janet Brown, Diana Bustamante Escobar, Vicki Dobbs, Jeongin Hong and Laura Michalchyshyn.Jeremy Kay, "TIFF: The Market sets 2026 dates, adds advisory board members". Screen Daily, May 16, 2025.
Charles Tremblay, formerly of film distributors Métropole Films and MK2, was the leader of the film market.Andrew Tracy, "TIFF taps distribution vet Charles Tremblay as head of market". Playback, August 29, 2025.
The market included a dedicated program for genre films, produced in collaboration with the Fantasia International Film Festival's Frontières market.Jamie Casemore, "Frontières to launch Canadian genre showcase at TIFF market". Playback, May 29, 2026. It also included the presentation of the established TIFF-CBC Films Screenwriter Award for as yet unproduced screenplays by emerging Canadian filmmakers.Jeremy Kay, "TIFF: The Market unveils programming: labs, financier meetings, IP exchange". Screen Daily, March 26, 2026.
Awards Tribute Awards The first recipients of the TIFF Tribute Awards were announced on July 29, 2026.Clayton Davis, "Penélope Cruz, Isabelle Huppert, Lee Chang-dong Among First TIFF Tribute Awards Honorees". Variety, July 29, 2026. 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.
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.Jeremy Kay, "Helen Mirren, Seth Rogen, Fan Bingbing join TIFF Tribute Award roster". Screen Daily, August 25, 2026.
Regular awards The festival's juried and audience-voted awards were announced on September 20 at the festival's conclusion.Pete Hammond, "‘La Bola Negra’ Wins Oscar Predictive Toronto Film Festival People’s Choice Award". Deadline Hollywood, September 20, 2026.
Award Film Director People's Choice Award La bola negra Javier Calvo, Javier Ambrossi People's Choice Award, First Runner Up I Play Rocky Peter Farrelly People's Choice Award, Second Runner Up Being Heumann Sian Heder International People's Choice Award Elsinore Simon Stone International People's Choice Award, First Runner Up Possible Love (가능한 사랑) Lee Chang-dong International People's Choice Award, Second Runner Up The Assassin(s) () Hur Jin-ho People's Choice Award: Documentaries Darlene Love: I Know Where I've Been Barry Avrich Documentary, First Runner Up Black Sunflowers James Marcus Haney Documentary, Second Runner Up The Ultra Runner Mila Aung-Thwin People's Choice Award: Midnight Madness Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney (Mesdames et Messieurs, Brian Mulroney) Matthew Rankin Midnight Madness, First Runner Up The Spiral (L'estranea) Paolo Strippoli Midnight Madness, Second Runner Up Arrested Memory (狂忘警探) Sabu Platform Prize Angh Theja Rio Platform Prize, Honorable Mention Brace Your Heart (Garrat du Váimmu) Amanda Kernell Best Canadian Feature Film Sunburn Serville Poblete Best Canadian Feature Film, Honorable Mention Man in Motion: The Rick Hansen Story Adrian Buitenhuis Best Canadian Discovery Smudge the Blades Cody Lightning Best Canadian Discovery, Honorable Mention The Black Box Is Orange Yuula Benivolski Best Animated Short Film Into the Betaverse Varun Raman, Tom Hancock Best Animated Short Film, Honorable Mention Terminal Alexandre Siqueira Best Canadian Short Film Fight Kid Michael Del Monte Best Canadian Short Film, Honorable Mention Almost Pink (Presque rose) Justine Prince Best International Short Film MAMMALIA Elia Kalogianni Best International Short Film, Honorable Mention The Spectacular Death of Prisca Kaelo Iyizoba FIPRESCI Award Ancestors David Turpin NETPAC Award Thirteen in Gaza (غزة 13) Hosam Abu Dan
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.John Hazelton, "Chris Rock, Yeon Sang-ho, Peter Farrelly titles among Toronto film festival galas and special presentations". Screen Daily, July 20, 2026.
English title Original title Director(s) Production country All About Corinne Ni vue, ni connue Marc Fitoussi France Always Lalisa Sue Kim United States The Assassin(s) Hur Jin-ho South Korea Atonement Reed Van Dyk United States Babies Lauren Miller Rogen Being Heumann Sian Heder Bunker Florian Zeller France, Spain Diary of a Mad Old Man Wayne Wang United States Evil Genius Courteney Cox Girl Group Rebel Wilson United Kingdom It's My Time 魔方小姐 Bai Xue China, Hong Kong The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd Tim Blake Nelson United States Man in Motion: The Rick Hansen Story Adrian Buitenhuis Canada Misty Green Chris Rock United States The Only Living Pickpocket in New York Noah Segan Onwards and Sideways John Madden United Kingdom Prima Facie Susanna White United Kingdom, Australia Pretenders Joss Crowley United Kingdom Run Terry Run Sean Menard Canada Spirit Guardians: The Last Secret of the First Emperor Hộ Linh Tráng Sĩ: Bí ẩn mộ vua Đinh Nguyễn Phan Quang Bình Vietnam A Talent for Murder Anton Corbijn United Kingdom, Italy Tenzing Jennifer Peedom United States, Australia Up Against It Trudie Styler United Kingdom Villeneuve: The Rise of a Legend Villeneuve: l'ascension d'une légende Yan Lanouette Turgeon Canada
Special Presentations Galas and special presentations were announced on July 20.
English title Original title Director(s) Production country The Age of Goodbyes 告別的年代 Edmund Yeo Taiwan, Malaysia All of a Sudden 急に具合が悪くなる / Soudain Ryûsuke Hamaguchi France, Japan, Germany, Belgium All That She Wants Scarlett Bermingham, Andrew Rhymer United States, Canada Alpha Gang David Zellner, Nathan Zellner United States Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo Takashi Miike United States, United Kingdom, Japan The Beloved El ser querido Rodrigo Sorogoyen Spain, France Bitter Christmas Amarga Navidad Pedro Almodóvar Spain La bola negra Javier Calvo, Javier Ambrossi Spain, France Bucking Fastard Werner Herzog United States Clarissa Arie Esiri, Chuko Esiri Nigeria, United States Closing Night Cody Fern Australia, Canada Club Kid Jordan Firstman United States Coward Lukas Dhont Belgium The Debut Jesse Eisenberg United States Elsinore Simon Stone United Kingdom Everest: The Other Side Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi United States Everybody Wants to Fuck Me Jonathan Schey United Kingdom, France, United States Faith Paul Andrew Williams United Kingdom Le Faux Soir Michaël R. Roskam Belgium, France Fjord Cristian Mungiu Romania, France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark Gentle Monster Marie Kreutzer Austria Glaxo Benjamín Naishtat Argentina, Brazil Good Little Soldier Un bon petit soldat Stéphane Brizé France Growth of the Soil Markens grøde Hans Petter Moland Norway Happily Ever After 幸福快樂的日子 Feng-I Fiona Roan Taiwan Hombre al agua Gael García Bernal Mexico The Housewife Ben Shirinian United States I Play Rocky Peter Farrelly The Idiot(s) Małgorzata Szumowska, Michał Englert Poland, Germany In Alaska Jaap van Heusden, Vinnie Karetak Netherlands, Canada Ink Danny Boyle United Kingdom, France, United States It Will Happen Tonight Succederà questa notte Nanni Moretti Italy, France, Spain Josephine Beth de Araújo United States The Julia Set Niki Byrne The Liberation Guy Nattiv United Kingdom, United States, New Zealand A Long Winter Andrew Haigh United States, Canada, United Kingdom Look Back ルックバック Hirokazu Kore-eda Japan Love of Your Life Rachel Morrison United States The Man I Love Ira Sachs Minotaur Минотавр Andrey Zvyagintsev France, Germany, Latvia Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People? ネルソンさん、あなたは人を殺しましたか? Shinya Tsukamoto Japan Neil Peart: No One's Disciple Sam Dunn, Scot McFadyen Canada Paradise Lost 실낙원 Yeon Sang-ho South Korea Phoolan Richie Mehta India Possible Love 가능한 사랑 Lee Chang-dong South Korea The Road Not Taken 明天，会更好 Peter Ho-Sun Chan China, Hong Kong The Stunt Driver Michael Dowse Canada Tender Loving Care Mike Leigh United Kingdom The Unknown L'Inconnue Arthur Harari France Whatcha Want Mina Shum Canada Wild Horse Nine Martin McDonagh United Kingdom, United States, Chile Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother Bassam Tariq United States
Special Events
English title Original title Director(s) Production country Hope 호프 Na Hong-jin South KoreaThe 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 were held with actors Andrew Scott and Hudson Williams, filmmakers Rachel Morrison and Lee Min-ho, and comedian and filmmaker Chris Rock.
Centrepiece