TIFF announced today the 2026 Discovery programme presented by Air France, showcasing a selection of emerging global filmmakers. Offering audiences a front-row seat to the future of cinema, this year’s lineup highlights films that pair bold creative risks with fresh perspectives. Continuing the tradition of opening the programme with an audacious genre-bender, following the breakout success of John Early’s TIFF ’25 comedy Maddie’s Secret, is the World Premiere of Stuffed. Directed and co-written by the UK’s Theo Rhys (and expanded from his 2021 short of the same name), this gloriously twisted musical stars Jodie Comer and Harry Melling in the year’s most original, hilarious, and unexpectedly heartfelt romance, where love, death, and taxidermy collide.
Additional highlights from the 2026 Discovery Official Selections are the World Premieres of David Turpin’s Ancestors, a dreamlike 1980s London-set seance exploring the legacy of the AIDS crisis; Drifter, an underdog story marking the directorial debut of Fast & Furious star Sung Kang; Ghasideh Golmakani’s Head to Head, an absurd Iranian satire on state control; Krux, writer-director Ulrike Tony Vahl’s feature length debut, a powerful and stark portrait of moral collapse, societal panic, and the consequences of being on the wrong side of history; Alexandra Pechman’s Magazine, where a young intern gets thrown into the intoxicating power dynamics of a prestigious literary magazine in New York 2011; and Tom Nicoll’s Salvation, a razor-sharp commentary on the seductive promise of online self-improvement culture. Plus, the International Premiere of Voices, a striking Motown-infused 1960s period musical from first-time filmmaker and former NFL player Deantè Gray.
Recognized for identifying the early works of generation-defining visionaries, Discovery has showcased foundational titles including Ildikó Enyedi’s My 20th Century (TIFF ’89), Alfonso Cuarón’s Love in the Time of Hysteria (TIFF ’91), Christopher Nolan’s Following (TIFF ’98), and Lav Diaz’s The Criminal of Barrio Concepcion (TIFF ’98). Recent editions have continued to champion next-gen voices, hosting the World Premieres of Dea Kulumbegashvili’s Beginning (TIFF ’20), Elegance Bratton’s The Inspection (TIFF ’22), and Durga Chew-Bose’s Bonjour Tristesse (TIFF ’24).
The 2026 Discovery Official Selection has been programmed by Jason Anderson, Kelly Boutsalis, Diana Cadavid, Robyn Citizen, Claire Diao, Giovanna Fulvi, June Kim, Peter Kuplowsky, Dorota Lech, and Jason Ryle.
2026 Discovery programme (in alphabetical order)
A Common Story | Anna Foglietta | Italy
International Premiere
Ancestors | David Turpin | Ireland, United Kingdom
World Premiere
Arne Goes to Space | Lars Vega | Sweden
World Premiere
Bedford Park | Stephanie Ahn | USA
International Premiere
Drifter | Sung Kang | USA
World Premiere
Head to Head | Ghasideh Golmakani | Iran, Germany
World Premiere
I Am Mario | Sharon Kleinberg | Mexico
International Premiere
In Waves | Phuong Mai Nguyen | France, Belgium
International Premiere
Krux | Tony Vahl | Germany, Poland
World Premiere
Magazine | Alexandra Pechman | USA
World Premiere
Memories of a Forest | Katharina Rabl | Germany, Austria
International Premiere
Nosotros | Joaquín Ruano | Guatemala, Mexico
World Premiere
Purgatory | Lindsay Lanzillotta | Canada, USA
World Premiere
Salvation | Tom Nicoll | United Kingdom
World Premiere
Seventeen | Justin Ducharme | Canada
World Premiere
Sisters | Ione Hernández | Spain
World Premiere
Strong Son | Ian Bawa | Canada
World Premiere
Stuffed | Theo Rhys | United Kingdom
World Premiere
Discovery opening film
The Daughters of Abraham | Hanaël El Yousfi | France
International Premiere
The Fortunate Isles | Helena Girón, Samuel Delgado | Spain, Greece
World Premiere
Voices | Deantè Gray | USA
International Premiere
We Are Born Good | Leung Chuen Yeung | Hong Kong
World Premiere
What Lies Between Us | Amalie Næsby Fick | Denmark
World Premiere
Zjili: A Story of Sisterhood and The Burdens of Excess | Christine Boateng, Hajara Musah Chambas | Ghana
World Premiere
The 51st edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, presented by Rogers, runs September 10–20, 2026.
After big accolades and a festival run, PILLION finally gets a February 13, 2026 release from Photon Films.
Synopsis:
A timid man is swept off his feet when an enigmatic, impossibly handsome biker takes him on as his submissive.
Principal Cast:
Harry Melling (The Queen’s Gambit, Harry Potter, Wolf Hall) as Colin
Alexander Skarsgård (Murderbot, True Blood, Infinity Pool) as Ray
Lesley Sharp (The Full Monty, Before We Die, Red Eye) as Peggy
Douglas Hodge (The Great, Lost in Space, Joker) as Pete
Directed by: Harry Lighton (Feature Film Debut)
Screenplay by: Harry Lighton, Adam Mars-Jones (novel – “Box Hill”)
Editor: Gareth C. Scales
Cinematographer: Nick Morris
Composer: Oliver Coates
Production Designer: Francesca Massariol
Country: United Kingdom, Ireland
Runtime: 107 minutes
Language: English
Producers: Lee Groombridge, Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Emma Norton
Executive Producers: Clare Binns, Mark Gooder, Pim Hermeling, Louise Ortega, Alexander Skarsgård, Alison Thompson, Christian Vesper, Eva Yates
Canadian Distributor: Photon Films
U.S. Distributor: A24
IMPORTANT NOTE: PILLION will release in the U.S. on Feburary 6, 2026. Photon Films will present PILLION’s Canadian theatrical release beginning February 13, 2026.
ABOUT PHOTON FILMS AND MEDIA
Launched in 2010, Photon Films and Media (photonfilms.ca), formerly Pacific Northwest Pictures, is a leading Canadian entertainment company specializing in the development, financing, production and distribution of feature films for the domestic and international marketplace. With an emphasis on high quality films from leading filmmakers in diverse genres, Photon Films brings those films to consumers with innovative forms of marketing and distribution across all distribution platforms.
Recent theatrical releases include Richard Linklater’s Golden Globe nominated Nouvelle Vague starring Spirit Award nominated Zoey Deutch for her role as Jane Seberg and Guillaume Marbeck, the SXSW Grand Jury and Audience Award Winner Bob Trevino Likes It from writer/director Tracie Laymon and starring Barbie Ferreira and John Leguizamo, Tribeca Audience Award Winner Bad Shabbos with Kyra Sedgwick, David Paymer and Method Man, and the critically acclaimed documentary One to One: John & Yoko from directors Kevin Macdonald and Sam Rice-Edwards. Upcoming films include Youngblood from director Hubert Davis and starring Blair Underwood and Ashton James, and Little Lorraine from director Andy Hines and starring Stephen Amell, Sean Astin, J Balvin, Matt Walsh, Rhys Darby and Stephen McHattie.
Hard to believe we are already at the halfway point of TIFF ’24! Just checking-in quickly on some more sightings! Yet another epic day with huge stars!
•Francis Ford Coppola, Adam Driver, Nathalie Emmanuel, Grace Vanderwaal and Giancarlo Esposito for MEGALOPOLIS
•Selena Gomez and Karla Sofia Gascon for EMILIA PEREZ
•Jennifer Coolidge and Ed Harris for RIFF RAFF
•Hyun Bin and Lee Dong-wook for HARBIN
•Fernanda Torres for I’M STILL HERE
•Juanes for PIMPINERO
•Caleb Landry-Jones and Harry Melling for HARVEST
Some highlights:
(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong)
Christian Bale is back in THE PALE BLUE EYE, arriving January only on Netflix. We have an official Trailer for your viewing pleasure!
Synopsis:
West Point, 1830. In the early hours of a gray winter morning, a cadet is found dead. But after the body arrives at the morgue, tragedy becomes savagery when it’s discovered that the young man’s heart has been skillfully removed. Fearing irreparable damage to the fledgling military academy, its leaders turn to a local detective, Augustus Landor (Christian Bale), to solve the murder. Stymied by the cadets’ code of silence, Landor enlists the help of one of their own to pursue the case, an eccentric cadet with a disdain for the rigors of the military and a penchant for poetry—a young man named Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling).
Cast:
Christian Bale, Harry Melling, Gillian Anderson, Lucy Boynton, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Toby Jones, Harry Lawtey, Simon McBurney, Hadley Robinson, Timothy Spall, Joey Brooks, Brennan Cook, Gideon Glick, Fred Hechinger, Matt Helm, Jack Irving, Steven Maier, Charlie Tahan and Robert Duvall.
THE PALE BLUE EYE arrives January 6, 2023 on Netflix.
(Photo/video credit: Netflix)
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