2026 TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL

The 2026 Toronto International Film Festival, which celebrates the best of Canadian and global cinema, is set to run from September 10th through 20th. There are two hundred and ninety three films that will be screened over the eleven day fest with many North American and world premieres as well as special events and talks. The festival's opening film is "Being Heumann" by Sian Heder, the director's first feature since her film, "CODA" received the 2021 Academy Award for Best Picture. This biopic is based on the life of Judy Heumann, an American disability rights activist, played by Ruth Madeley.



Some of the Galas and special presentations will include "Prima Facie", directed by Susanna White and adapted by Suzie Miller from her 2019 stage play, which stars Cynthia Erivo as successful defense barrister who rose from a working class background and whose life is upended following the actions by a colleague. "Atonement" from Reed Van Dyk is about a troubled US marine (Boyd Holbrook) seeking to reconcile with the survivors of a family that his unit fired upon in Iraq. Oscar-winner, Mahershala Ali stars in "Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother", an action-thriller from writer/director, Bassam Tariq, about a devoutly religious hitman who goes on a desperate journey across Texas to protect his family from dark forces closing in around him. "Diary of a Mad Old Man", a drama from Wayne Wang, that follows an aging widower (Lily Franky) having an intimate relationship with his caregiver daughter-in-law (Fan Bingbing). "Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo" is the third instalment of the series, this time set in Japan from Takashi Miike, which involves a Tokyo police officer (Shun Oguri) who finds himself being investigated by an FBI agent (Lily James) after a politician's daughter (Liv Morgan) goes missing. The actor, Tim Blake Nelson offers his latest as a director with "The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd" about a teacher (Amanda Seyfried) that takes a job at a maximum security prison where she falls for a charismatic inmate (Scoot McNairy). "Elsinore" stars Andrew Scott as Ian Charleson, a Scottish actor who appeared in "Chariots of Fire", who gets a dream opportunity to play "Hamlet" at the National Theatre but is seriously ill from AIDS. And "I Play Rocky", from director, Peter Farrelly, tells the incredible story of how Sylvester Stallone, at the time a struggling actor, wrote the movie about a down-on-his-luck boxer that would change his life.









The closing night film will be "Villeneuve: The Rise of a Legend" which is about the early life of Canadian race car driver, Gilles Villeneuve (played by Rémi Goulet) and his early efforts to establish his career in racing.

The TIFF Tribute Awards will include Rosalind Eleazar (appearing in Chris Rock's "Misty Green") and French icon, Isabelle Huppert (with her latest comedy, "Ni vue, ni connue (All About Corinne)") as the winners of the Performer Award. Lee Chang-dong received the Director Award for his latest, "가능한 사랑 (Possible Love)", filmmaker, Sian Heder was selected for the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media and Penélope Cruz (with her latest films, "Bunker" and "La bola negra" will be screened during the fest) is the recipient of the Special Tribute Award.

To see the complete list of films, events and purchase tickets, please click below:

TIFF 2026

EMILIA PEREZ (2024)

Written & Directed by Jacques Audiard

Where & When: TIFF: Visa Screening Room at Princess of Wales Theatre, Toronto, Ontario Canada September 10, 2024 11:30 AM

Available to stream now on Netflix



The French filmmaker, Jacques Audiard began his career as a screenwriter, co-writing over ten feature films before moving behind the camera. His first feature, "Regarde les hommes tomber (See How They Fall)" in 1993 was well-received, earning the director three César Awards (France's Oscars) including for Best First Work. Audiard's subsequent features are bold and daring works that would go on to be critically acclaimed internationally and award-winning with him collecting eleven César Awards to date and winning the top prize of the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2015. While most of his films would be contemporary and set in his native country, Audiard would recently become a cinematic world traveler, creating works further outside from his own experiences. First, there was "Dheepan" (which won the Palme d'Or) involving a Sri Lankan soldier during the country's civil war who creates a new identity in order to securely achieve political asylum in France. Then he ventured to America with his first English-language film, "The Sisters Brothers", a nineteenth century western about assassin-for-hire brothers in search of gold.

With his latest, "Emilia Pérez" (a Jury Prize winner at this year's Cannes), a story set in Mexico about a male drug-dealer who transitions into a female, Audiard continues to goes further into transcending our expectations of cinematic storytelling. An unconventional yet riveting melodrama that catches you by surprise, managing to be equally captivating and disturbing.

Our story begins with Rita Castro (Zoe Saldaña), a defense attorney in the middle of a murder trial uncomfortably defending someone she knows is guilty. After winning the case, she is approached with a mysterious proposition by an anonymous client. The client turns out to be Juan Del Monte, a notorious cartel kingpin known as "Manitas" (Karla Sofía Gascón) who wants her help arranging for him to have surgery to change his gender. Learning about his years of struggling with his gender identity, Rita agrees to this strange yet lucrative offer. After finding the right doctors to discreetly perform the operation, her final task is to move Del Monte's wife, Jessi (Selena Gomez) with their two children to Switzerland for their safety before she learns that her husband has "died".

A few years later, Rita runs into a woman at a dinner party in London who is also from Mexico. It is "Manitas" who has been reborn as "Emilia Pérez" (also played by Gascón) and is insisting on Rita's help once again. Desperately missing her family, Emilia wants Rita to bring Jessi back to Mexico City under the guise that she is her husband's distant cousin wanting to help her raise the children. Skeptical yet wanting to return to Mexico, Jessi agrees to this plan.

While happy to be reunited with her family, Emilia is confronted by her criminal past and that guilt leads to her beginning a non-profit to help identify the bodies of cartel victims, some she may have been directly responsible for their murders. One woman, Epifanía (Adriana Paz) is contacted by Emilia when the remains of her missing husband have been identified. But she's shocked when Epifanía is simply relieved that her abusive husband is actually dead. They begin a friendship which surprisingly turns romantic.

Did I mention that "Emilia Pérez" is also a musical? Audiard unexpectedly uses song (French composer, Clément Ducol and pop musician, Camille Dalmais co-wrote the music) and dance (Damien Jalet choreographed) to heighten the already compelling dramatic narrative. But unlike the recent comic-book sequel, "Joker: Folie à Deux" which added musical numbers to the dark drama that came across as a labored effect, the original songs here perfectly captures each character's anguished fears, secret pain and burning desires.

The Spanish-born Gascón came out as trans in 2018 after performing as an actor for many years in Mexico as Juan Carlos Gascón. Capturing the shrewd menace of "Manitas" while revealing a somewhat softer antagonist as Emilia, the actress convinces in this dual role, commanding the screen with a mesmerizing presence. It would seem she has used some of her own personal experiences into her performance, sharing with her character the challenges of transitioning in order to live authentically.

The veteran Saldaña, who has made her name with her Hollywood work in the sc-fi franchise films, "Avatar", "Star Trek" and "Guardians of the Galaxy", has an opportunity to reveal another side of herself as a performer. Starting off her career wanting to do ballet, she had to abandon this dream by not having the feet for this highly technical form of dance. But Saldaña would make her film debut as a ballet student in "Center Stage" back in 2000. She dazzles here, singing and dancing as a lawyer caught in a moral compromise between wanting to help make a better society and defending the criminal element.

Gomez might be better known as a pop singer but she began as a child actress finding fame on the Disney Channel and more recently has impressed with her comedic turn in the series, "Only Murder in the Building". Playing against type, Gomez is completely convincing as the pampered, bleach-blond mob wife who's grasping at whatever she can in order to survive. Along with Paz, these diverse actresses also shared a well-deserved prize for Best Actress at this year's Cannes Film Festival, working together seamlessly.

When Jessi starts up an affair with Gustavo (Édgar Ramírez), she wants to marry him and move away with the children. An enraged Emilia refuses to allow her to take them, leading to a violently explosive, bombastic finale. Operatic at it's core, "Emilia Pérez" is a visually striking fantasia rooted in a realistic milieu. The mix of genres may not always mesh together seamlessly throughout the film but Audiard has been a cinematic craftsman who desires to provoke and challenge, completely uninterested in easy convention. Wildly audacious and thrillingly entertaining, "Emilia Pérez" is absolutely one of my favorite films I've seen this year.

2024 TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL

I live in Los Angeles where there is certainly no shortage of film events that occur here all year long. But I decided last year that I would really like to travel more to experience film festivals in other locations. So for my first outing, I will be attending the 2024 Toronto Film Festival. I have been to the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario before but it has been a number of years since the last time I have visited. I really love the city and the people and I get to see movies there so I would say it's truly a win-win-win situation for me.

As for the 49th annual TIFF, there will be sixty-three movies in the Galas and Special Presentations section alone, hailing from twenty-five countries. This will include "Nutcrackers", a comedy-drama from David Gordon Green which will open the fest and make it's world premiere: "Hard Truths", the first movie in six years from British filmmaker, Mike Leigh which he reteams with his "Secrets & Lies" star, Marianne Jean-Baptiste; the latest feature directed by Angelina Joie, "Without Blood" that features Salma Hayek and Demián Bichir; Edward Berger's papal movie, "Conclave" which stars Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, Isabella Rossellini and John Lithgow; Fiennes will also appear in "The Return", a historical drama from Uberto Pasolini which reteams the actor with his "The English Patient" co-star, Juliette Binoche; Oscar-winning editor, William Goldenberg makes his directorial debut with "Unstoppable", a sports drama starring Jharrel Jerome and Jennifer Lopez; Cinematographer, Rachel Morrison makes her debut as a director with "The Fire Inside" a sports drama featuring a screenplay by Barry Jenkins: "Nightbitch" from Marielle Heller with Amy Adams as a harried mother thinking she's transforming into a dog; the animated, sci-fi wilderness adventure, "The Wild Robot"; the Cannes Palme d’Or winner, "Anora" from Sean Baker and Australian actor, Rebel Wilson's directorial debut, "The Deb", a musical-comedy will close TIFF.







There will also be programming sections of Documentaries, Centerpiece, Discovery, Primetime (which will focus on television programing), Short Cuts, Film Market (for film buyers and industry professionals), "In Conversation with..." events which will include Cate Blanchett (who will also be the recipient of the Share Her Journey Groundbreaker Award), Zoe Saldaña and Steven Soderbergh and free outdoor screenings of classic films. There will be a lot going on and I'm ready for it. The 2024 TIFF will begin on September 5th and run through September 15th. I will be attending the first seven days and writing a viewing diary of the films I will see there.

For the complete list of films, events and to purchase tickets, please click below:

2024 TIFF

25 OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED FILMS AT THE 2016 TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL

If it's September, then there must be a film festival. The latest is the 41st Annual Toronto Film Festival which began on September 8th and runs through September 18th. This Canadian fest is best known for it's mix of Hollywood fare, indies and World cinema. There will be an incredible 296 features and documentaries that will be shown throughout the event with almost half of the films being world premieres. Some of these have already made their debuts at Venice or Telluride, like "La La Land", "Nocturnal Animals", "Moonlight" and "The Magnificent Seven" and have received plenty of praise but will now get an opportunity to be seen by an even larger audience. Some of the premieres include Oliver Stone's bio-pic "Snowden" and "LBJ", Rob Reiner's look at our 36th President with Woody Harrelson as Lyndon B. Johnson and Jennifer Jason Leigh as Lady Bird.

Even if you're not able to make the trip to Toronto, you may want to take a look at this list for some films that you might want to check out later this season.

Click below to Read:

25 of The Most Anticipated Films at 2016 Toronto Film Fest

2012 VENICE & TORONTO FILM FESTIVALS

Two of the most respected and long-running film festivals have announced their upcoming schedules:

The 69th annual Venice Film Festival has selected eighteen films to compete to win the coveted Golden Lion Award. They have honored a diverse collection of world cinema featuring recent work by Olivier Assayas ("Apres Mai"), Harmony Korine ("Spring Breakers"), Brian DePalma ("Passion") and Paul Thomas Anderson ("The Master").

Spike Lee will be honored with the Glory To The Filmmaker Award, a prize given to a person who has brought great innovation to contemporary cinema. Director, Michael Cimino will be presented with the Persol 2012 award, followed by a screening of his infamous 1980 film, "Heaven's Gate". The latest film by Mira Nair, "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" will open the festival on August 29th with the Italian event concluding on September 8th.

For a complete list of films, please go to:
VENICE 2012

The Toronto International Film Festival, now in it's thirty-sixth year, begins on September 6th through September 16th. The opening film is the sci-fi thriller, "Looper' by director, Rian Johnson and stars Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.



The TIFF is most famous for being the kick-off for some of the fall films that will most likely shape the upcoming awards season. Some of the world premieres include new films by David O. Russell ("Silver Linings Playbook"), Terrence Malick ("To The Wonder"), The Wachowski's ("Cloud Atlas") as well as filmmakers better known for acting such as Ben Affleck ("Argo"), Robert Redford ("The Company You Keep"), Billy Bob Thornton ("Jayne Mansfield's Car") and the directorial debut by Dustin Hoffman ("Quartet").

There will be sixty feature films and over seventy documentaries that will be screened over the Canadian festival's run.

For more information and a complete listing of films, go to:
TIFF 2012