#TIFF: OCTOBER 2026 PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS

TIFF unveiled its October 2026 slate at TIFF Lightbox, featuring retrospectives, Halloween programming, advance screenings, and new 4K restorations. Highlights include a retrospective celebrating Black British cinema, a spotlight on Iranian auteur Bahram Beyzaie, newly restored classics, and special guests including Adé Abegunde, Robert Beavers, Ellie Foumbi, Barbara Todd Hager, Laura Hall, Tomson Highway, Patty Krawec, Canisia Lubrin, Iain Reid, Isabel Okoro, and Lina Rodriguez.

Halloween season is here, and TIFF Cinematheque has a thrilling lineup of horror, cult classics, and thrillers including the 50th anniversary and 4K digital presentation of Brian De Palma’s classic Carrie (1976), Claire Denis’ 25th anniversary of Trouble Every Day (2001) in 35mm, Pascal Plante’s Red Rooms (2023), Nyla Innuksuk’s Slash/Back (2022), and Věra Chytilová’s Wolf’s Hole (1987). Fresh off its Festival run as part of TIFF Classics, the new 4K restoration of Ken Russell’s The Devils (1971) returns to the Lightbox for a Canadian exclusive 35mm limited run starting October 30 (tickets go on sale October 14).

Ahead of Drawn Universes: Visions in Animation (November 19–December 29), curated by filmmaker Masaaki Yuasa, TIFF Cinematheque presents the Japanese auteur’s most recent feature Inu-Oh (TIFF ’21). Stay tuned for programming details on the marquee series in the coming days.

Secret Movie Club returns for the 2026–2027 season starting October 20, with screenings on select Tuesday evenings. The hosts are Robyn Citizen (Director of Programming, Festival & Cinematheque), Peter Kuplowsky (Lead Programmer, Midnight Madness; International Programmer, US Indies), and Keith Bennie (Vice President, Public Programming). Lavazza is the Official Coffee Sponsor of the series. Also back for the 2026–2027 season is International Cinema Cafe. The hosts are Kelly Boutsalis (International Programmer, Canadian Features) and Christoph Straub (Director of Public Programming).

Tickets for October programming will be available for TIFF Members on Wednesday, September 30 at 12pm, and to the public on Friday, October 2 at 12pm.

TIFF CINEMATHEQUE PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS

Through the Fog: Films by Bahram Beyzaie

October 3–22

In this selection of greatest achievements, TIFF Cinematheque pays homage to the legacy of author, playwright, and filmmaker Bahram Beyzaie (1938–2025), a foundational figure of the Iranian New Wave who passed away in December 2025. A landmark of Iranian cinema, Bashu, the Little Stranger (1986) returns to theatres in a new 4K restoration after its 2025 North American premiere in TIFF Classics, and is complimented by Beyzaie’s first feature — and Iranian New Wave catalyst — Downpour (1972), sophomore masterwork The Stranger and the Fog (1974), both restored by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project, and a shorts programme of his earliest cinematic works, featuring: Uncle Moustache (1970) and Journey (1972). Drawn to questions of myth, tradition, and community, Through the Fog: Films by Bahram Beyzaie foregrounds Beyzaie’s boundless curiosity and compassionate humanist lens. Organized by TIFF Cinematheque Senior Manager, Amanda Brason.

Pressure: Growing Up After the Windrush

Oct 16–28

Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Festival of Festivals’ presentation of Horace Ové’s Pressure, the first Black British feature film, Pressure: Growing Up After the Windrush celebrates the Afro-Caribbean diaspora’s rich contributions to British culture since their arrival on the HMT Empire Windrush. Curated by TIFF Cinematheque programmer Vicky Wong, this series explores the Windrush generation’s experience of systemic racism, intergenerational and cultural clash, and its outsized influence on art, music, and cinema that expanded British identity. In addition to Ové’s eponymous film, this series includes Lloyd Bradley’s Ten Bob in Winter (1963), Franco Rosso’s Babylon (TIFF ’81), Menelik Shabazz’s Step Forward Youth (1977) and Burning an Illusion (1981), Maureen Blackwood and Isaac Julien’s The Passion of Remembrance (1986), Twilight City (TIFF ’89) from the Black Audio Film Collective, and Steve McQueen’s Lovers Rock (2020).

Pressure is presented in partnership with Windrush International Caribbean Film Festival, which launches its inaugural global edition from September 24 – November 1, 2026.

TIFF Cinematheque Special Screenings

October 3, 4pm and October 10, 4pm: The Maltese Falcon (1941) dir. John Huston, 85th anniversary; 35mm print!

October 8, 6:30pm: The Burmese Harp (1956) dir. Kon Ichikawa, 70th anniversary; 4K restoration!

October 15, 7:30pm: Carrie (1976) dir. Brian De Palma, 50th anniversary; 4K digital presentation!

October 17, 3:30pm and October 18, 7pm: Trouble Every Day (2001) dir. Claire Denis, 25th anniversary; 35mm print!

October 20, 6:30pm: Puntos de fuga (2025) dir. Lina Rodriguez, Canadian Premiere, in-person Q&A with the director

October 25, 4pm: This is the Feminist Archive: The Public Gaze, curated by Lexie Corbett and Marusya Bociurkiw

October 27, 6:30pm: AV Heritage Day: Ramiro Puerta Restored, recorded introduction by Ricardo Acosta and post-screening panel discussion with Zaira Zarza, Susan Lord, and Leslie Lester

From the Collection with Cameron Bailey

October 6, 6:30pm: House of Flying Daggers (2004) dir. Zhang Yimou, 35mm print!

TIFF Cinematheque New and Restored

October 4, 4pm and October 10, 6:30pm: My Brother’s Wedding (1981) dir. Charles Burnett, Toronto premiere of new 4K restoration!

TIFF Wavelengths Presents

October 7, 7pm: The Sparrow Dream with Robert Beavers, in-person Q&A with the director

The Hedge Theater (1986-90/2002) dir. Robert Beavers, 35mm print!

The Ground (1993-2001) dir. Robert Beavers, 35mm print!

The Sparrow Dream (2022) dir. Robert Beavers, 16mm print!

Presented in partnership with University of Toronto’s John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design.

See the North

October 13, 6pm: Red Rooms (2023) dir. Pascal Plante

Animate

October 14, 6:30pm: Inu-Oh (2021) dir. Masaaki Yuasa

TIFF Next Wave Presents

October 21, 7pm: Slash/Back (2022) dir. Nyla Innuksuk, with guests Laura Hall and Patty Krawec

Midnight Madness Presents

October 24, 6:30pm: Wolf’s Hole (1987) dir. Věra Chytilová

MDFF Selects

October 29, 6:30pm: Redoubt (2025) dir. John Skoog, North American Premiere

PUBLIC PROGRAMMING SPOTLIGHT

October 13, 6:30pm: In Conversation With… Iain Reid and Ellie Foumbi

Join us for the official Canadian launch of A New Kind of Clean, the groundbreaking collaboration from Iain Reid and Ellie Foumbi. Reid is the celebrated author of Foe and I’m Thinking of Ending Things. Foumbi is the award-winning filmmaker behind Our Father, the Devil and the upcoming erotic drama Fleur. Together, they will discuss their respective creative processes and previous works, as well as their unique collaboration on A New Kind of Clean, which Foumbi will adapt into a film. Following the in-cinema event, Reid and Foumbi will sign copies of A New Kind of Clean. This event is presented in partnership with Simon & Schuster Canada and hosted by award-winning author Canisia Lubrin.

October 14, 6pm: Eyimofe (This is My Desire) with local.global

Following the North American Premiere of Arie and Chuko Esiri’s Clarissa at TIFF ’26, discover the brothers’ assured debut feature, a Lagos-set “reverser migration story” (as described by Chuko). This event is presented in partnership with local.global, a creative studio documenting, developing, and archiving stories from African communities around the world. Before the screening, local.global co-founders adé abegunde and Isabel Okoro join us for a presentation about diasporic experiences, aesthetics, and representation.

November 11, 6pm: Advance Screening: Tomson Highway: Permanent Astonishment

World Premiere of the highly anticipated feature documentary by Cree-Métis filmmaker Barbara Todd Hager. The film captures the extraordinary life of award-winning playwright Tomson Highway and explores his Cree-influenced view of life, his love of laughter, his family origins, and how his plays launched the Indigenous theatre movement in Canada. The screening will be followed by an in-person Q&A with Barbara Todd Hager and Tomson Highway, moderated by Antonio Michael Downing, host of CBC Radio’s The Next Chapter.

FILM REFERENCE LIBRARY

October 24: Home Movie Day

The Film Reference Library is partnering with Toronto Metropolitan University’s AMIA Chapter to host Home Movie Day 2026. Celebrating small format film and providing visitors with the opportunity to bring in their own home movies on 8mm, Super8, and 16mm to be inspected, repaired and replayed among a community of film enthusiasts. Attendance is free