Talk about a heavyweight film festival lineup. On Monday, the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival released the full list of Gala and Special Presentations that will be unspooling during its 51st edition. And as Gold Derby predicted, Peter Farrelly’s latest Oscar hopeful, I Am Rocky, is among the world premieres. Hailing from Amazon MGM, the film stars Anthony Ippolito as Sylvester Stallone and the action icon’s onscreen alter ego, Rocky Balboa, in a dramatization of all the blood, sweat, and tears that went into the making of the 1976 Best Picture-winning boxing classic, Rocky.
Other high profile movies making their world premieres in Toronto include Misty Green, the latest directorial effort from actor-comedian, Chris Rock; A Talent for Muder from acclaimed Dutch filmmaker Anton Corbijn; Evil Genius, directed by Courteney Cox and starring David Harbour; Onwards and Sideways from Shakespeare in Love director, John Madden; Diary of a Mad Old Man, the latest film from American indie pioneer, Wayne Wang; and Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo, a new film from cult Japanese auteur, Takashi Miike.
TIFF also unveiled an extensive collection of North American and Canadian premieres of hot ticket titles from other festivals, led by the Cannes breakouts Fjord, All of a Sudden, Club Kid, and La Bola Negra. Sundance sensations Josephine and The Only Living Pickpocket in New York also return to the festival circuit since their Park City peek-outs.
Below is everything you need to know about TIFF 2026, which unfolds from Sept. 10-20 in Toronto.
The premieres
TIFF’s Opening Night presentation will be Apple Original Film’s Being Heumann, the directorial follow-up from Oscar-winning CODA filmmaker Siân Heder. The film stars Ruth Madeley alongside Mark Ruffalo, and tells the inspiring real-life story of Judy Heumann, the disability rights advocate who spearheaded a historic weeks-long sit-in in 1977.
Other world premieres for Susanna White’s legal drama Prima Facie and South Korean filmmaker Hur Jin-ho’s political thriller The Assassin(s). Prima Facie is adapted by Suzie Miller from her own Tony Award-winning one-woman stage play. The film, starring Cynthia Erivo as Tessa Ensler, follows an ambitious, working-class British defense barrister whose life and view of the legal system are upended after she is sexually assaulted by a colleague. The Assassin(s)is a historical thriller set in 1974 during the real-life aftermath of the attempted assassination of South Korean President Park Chung-hee. The film features an ensemble cast, including Yoo Hae-jin, Park Hae-il, and Lee Min-ho.
The festival also unveiled five films for the Special Presentations official selection: David and Nathan Zellner’s Alpha Gang, Benjamín Naishtat’s Glaxo, Rachel Morrison’s Love of Your Life, Ben Shirinian’s The Housewife, and Bassam Tariq’s Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother starring Mahershala Ali.
New additions
For the first time, the festival is introducing TIFF: The Market (running Sept. 10–16), an official standalone film industry hub operating out of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. As part of this expansion, the Convention Centre’s John Bassett Theatre has been added to the festival’s official screening venue roster.
The date
TIFF returns this Sept. 10–20.
