#TIFF26: TIFF: THE MARKET INAUGURAL INNOVATION HUB

TIFF: The Market, happening September 10-16, is thrilled to launch its Innovation
Hub, a powerful, new exhibition operating at the intersection of storytelling, art and technology.
Spanning virtual reality, mixed reality, artificial intelligence and interactive media, the exhibition
demonstrates how today’s leading creators are using new technologies to engage audiences in
ways that go beyond the traditional methods.

Located on Level 200 of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, the Hub is part of a broader
focus on innovation across TIFF: The Market, extending from immersive projects in the
International Financing & Project Market (IFPM) to Summit conversations examining the
technologies, creative practices and business models shaping the future of the screen
industries.

Selected by an international advisory committee, the exhibition features three World Premieres,
one North American Premiere and four Canadian Premieres, with creators representing
Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greenland, the Netherlands, Taiwan and the
United States. Together, the eight works showcase many of today’s defining ideas, from artificial
intelligence and speculative futures to Indigenous knowledge, identity, historical memory,
climate justice and human resilience.

“We’re excited to provide a platform for the global industry to explore these incredible
projects,” said Charles Tremblay, Head of TIFF: The Market. “Their unique blend of
cinema, contemporary art and emerging technology creates a meaningful connection
between the audience and the compelling characters and stories reflected in each
experience.”

THE EXHIBITION
Designed as a destination exhibition, the Innovation Hub unfolds as a curated journey through
four thematic explorations, revealing how immersive artists around the world are using new

technologies to showcase identity, memory, artificial intelligence, climate justice and humanity’s
future.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & THE FUTURE OF WORK
At the intersection of artificial intelligence, labour and human agency, Body Proxy offers a
provocative vision of a future where humans work for machines.

Making its Canadian Premiere following its debut at SXSW, Body Proxy from acclaimed Los
Angeles studio Tender Claws invites audiences to accept a job unlike any other: becoming the
physical body for artificial intelligence. Presented as a fictional startup onboarding, participants
wear AI-enabled smart glasses before entering a speculative economy where AI agents hire
human workers to complete physical tasks they cannot perform themselves. Every action is
measured, tokenized and traded, turning human labour into a commodity whose value rises and
falls in real time. At once immersive theatre, performance art and speculative design, Body
Proxy offers a sharp satire of algorithmic management, gig work and surveillance capitalism,
asking what happens when people are no longer simply users of AI, but its workforce.

INDIGENOUS FUTURES, IDENTITY & BELONGING
Three projects place culture and lived experience at the centre of technological innovation.
Making its World Premiere, Mekwâc: “Now Is Good” by Quantum Wampum and James
Monkman Studio is an immersive projection experience grounded in a Cree worldview, inviting
audiences into a living, cyclical story that bridges generations, cultures and ways of knowing.
Guided by the Four Directions and the Four Stages of Life- infancy, youth, adulthood and
eldership- participants journey alongside the beings of the Seven Grandfather Teachings:
Beaver (Wisdom), Sabé (Honesty), Buffalo (Respect), Eagle (Love), Wolf (Humility), Bear
(Bravery) and Turtle (Truth). Through powerful imagery, spatial sound and interactive
environments, the installation illuminates the profound relationships that connect people to the
land, water, animals and one another. Rather than using technology as spectacle, Mekwâc
reimagines immersive media as a space for cultural continuity, healing and the sharing of
Indigenous knowledge across generations.

Making its World Premiere, Tartupaluk by acclaimed Greenlandic-Canadian artist, writer and
performer Laakkuluk Williamson invites audiences to become citizens of an imagined Arctic
republic inspired by a tiny real-world island claimed by both Canada and Greenland. Through an
interactive virtual reality journey, visitors tour the fictional Republic of Tartupaluk, earning their
citizenship among a nation of circumpolar lovers as the island’s long history of imperialist
geopolitical claims gives way to a hopeful vision of gathering, connection and belonging.
Blending immersive storytelling, performance and political satire, Tartupaluk transforms a
contested border into a poetic Inuit utopia, reimagining sovereignty through community rather
than division and inviting audiences to consider the cultural relationships that transcend colonial
boundaries.

Making its Canadian Premiere, Lesbian Simulator by Dutch artist Iris van der Meule
transforms virtual reality into a joyful, deeply personal exploration of identity, love and belonging.
Designed as an interactive simulation game, participants build their own lesbian persona before
navigating formative moments including coming out, making friends, dating, celebrating Pride
and confronting discrimination in everyday life. Drawing on the artist’s personal experiences, the
colourful and humorous work balances moments of celebration with honest reflections on
inequality and prejudice, creating an experience that is as entertaining as it is emotionally
resonant. Through immersive participation rather than passive observation, Lesbian Simulator
invites audiences to step into another lived experience, demonstrating how virtual reality can
cultivate empathy, spark dialogue and celebrate the diversity of the queer community.

MEMORY, HISTORY & THE STORIES WE CARRY
From an iconic photograph frozen in time to a city rapidly transforming and a husband’s journey
through grief, three works explore how immersive storytelling can reconstruct, preserve and
inhabit memory.

Making its World Premiere, The Big Picture – “Lunch Atop a Skyscraper” by French creator
Chloé Rochereuil reimagines one of the world’s most celebrated photographs as an immersive
journey through history. Beginning with the iconic 1932 image of eleven ironworkers sharing
lunch on a steel beam high above New York City, the experience invites audiences to step
beyond the edges of the photograph and into the world that surrounded it. As visitors explore
the three-dimensional environment, forgotten stories, unseen perspectives and the lives behind
the camera gradually emerge, transforming a single frozen moment into a richly layered
narrative. Through immersive storytelling, The Big Picture reveals how virtual reality can breathe
new life into historical archives, inviting audiences to experience history rather than simply
observe it.

Making its Canadian Premiere following its award-winning presentation at Venice Biennale
Immersive, The Clouds Are Two Thousand Meters Up transforms an acclaimed short story by
Taiwanese author Wu Ming-Yi into a breathtaking free-roaming virtual reality experience.
Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Singing Chen, the immersive work follows Guan, a lawyer
grieving the sudden loss of his wife, as he journeys into the mountains guided by the unfinished
novel she left behind. Moving through lush forests, Indigenous Rukai creation stories, memory
and myth, audiences experience a world where landscapes become storytellers and every
environment carries emotional meaning. Visually stunning and deeply moving, the installation
dissolves the boundaries between literature, cinema and immersive art, revealing how virtual
reality can create experiences that are at once intimate, poetic and profoundly human.

Following its presentation at Venice Immersive, director Chloé Lee’s Reflections of Little Red
Dot makes its Canadian Premiere at TIFF with an interactive exploration of Singapore’s rapidly
changing urban landscape. Created by Present Futures as a mixed-reality open documentary,
the work brings together personal stories from Singaporeans across generations, tracing the
country’s transformation through the people and communities who have lived it. Using a custom
projector, visitors shape their own journey through neighbourhoods, recollections and histories

altered by decades of extraordinary development. As familiar places disappear or take on new
forms, Reflections of Little Red Dot considers what is lost alongside them, preserving not simply
how a city looked, but how it felt to live there.

STORIES THAT INSPIRE ACTION
Making its North American Premiere, Solwata places audiences on the front lines of the global
climate crisis through an immersive documentary unlike any other. Narrated by Academy
Award-nominated actor and environmental advocate Mark Ruffalo, the mixed-reality experience
follows the island communities of Walande, Ngongosila, and Kwai in the Solomon Islands as
they confront the impossible reality of having to relocate their homes and lives due to rising
seas. Created by Berlin-based NowHere Media in partnership with Human Rights Watch and
Agog: The Immersive Media Institute, the installation blends documentary filmmaking,
360-degree video, spatial audio and tactile interaction with water and cultural objects to create
an experience that is both intimate and profoundly moving. Developed in collaboration with the
communities whose stories it tells, Solwata reveals the human face of climate displacement
while demonstrating the extraordinary power of immersive storytelling to foster empathy, deepen
understanding and inspire action.

The Innovation Hub is presented by the Canada Media Fund. The Hollywood Reporter is the
media partner for The Innovation Hub.

The Innovation Hub will be accessible every day for registered TIFF: The Market delegates and
open to the public for two days only, September 15-16.

PLAN YOUR VISIT

Public Access
September 15–16, 2026
Timed entry is available during the following windows:
● 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
● 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
● 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Tickets: https://am.ticketmaster.com/tiff2/InnovationHub

Experience Premiere Approx. Runtime
Body Proxy Canadian Premiere 25 min
Reflections of Little Red Dot Canadian Premiere 40 min
Mekwâc: “Now Is Good” World Premiere 25 min
Tartupaluk World Premiere 31 min
Lesbian Simulator Canadian Premiere 40 min
The Big Picture – Lunch Atop a
Skyscraper

World Premiere 15 min

The Clouds Are Two Thousand Meters Up Canadian Premiere 62 min
Solwata North American Premiere 25 min
View details here.

About TIFF: The Market

TIFF: The Market, funded by the Government of Canada and supported by Major Supporter
Telefilm Canada, will expand TIFF’s scope of offerings and reinforce its role as a global
entertainment industry leader in screen-based storytelling while fostering sustainable growth for
the industry worldwide. Aligned with the Festival, TIFF: The Market will foster the buying and
selling of screen-based projects, intellectual property, plus immersive and innovative content
across all platforms, elevating Canadian and international talent while driving global distribution
and sales.

TIFF is generously supported by Major Sponsors RBC and Visa and Major Supporters
the Government of Ontario, Telefilm Canada, and the City of Toronto.
Online pass registration ends today, August 26th. Standard pass accreditation
rates end August 28th. All passes include access to Market venues and Press &
Market screenings of films in TIFF’s Official Selection (formerly known as Press &
Industry screenings).

All passes include access to Market venues and Press & Market screenings of films in TIFF’s
Official Selection (formerly known as Press & Industry screenings).

For more information, visit tiff.net/themarket/attend