By Mr. Will Wong

LA BOLA NEGRA was made for Awards Season. The Spanish queer drama from co-directed and co-adapted by duo Los Javis spans three eras, connecting the stories of three men in a thoughtful way, inspired by an unfinished poem by Federico García Lorca and Alberto Conejero‘s play La piedra oscura.

We have Carlos (Milo Quifes) who is “blackballed” or voted out from a casino after suspicions are raised about him being homosexual. His father urges him to plea for the powers that be to change their decision. We also meet Sebastián (Guitarricadelafuente) who is enlisted into the nationalist army, only to fall in love with a prisoner of war named Rafael (Miguel Bernardeau) he is to pry information from and be cruel to. The story then skips to modern day, where a historian named Alberto (Carlos González) is about to receive an inheritance from his estranged grandfather, bringing to the surface years of unresolved tension between his mother (Lola Dueñas) and him.

Los Javis are doing some groundbreaking things here, re-framing the queer identity here, going beyond just looking at the challenges of oppression. Ultimately, the Film finds pockets of empowerment, light and love, making La Bola Negra an experience that warms the heart, paying respect to those who paved the way for us today by way of remembering the stories of those who could not live their truths. Above this, the Film visually is spectacular under the cinematography of Gris Jordana.

Some truly fantastic performances from this Ensemble, including Guitarricadelafuente, who is tortured between obligation and his heart. The Film is boosted by two surprise appearances from Penélope Cruz and she truly is dazzling here as a showgirl who rouses the troops to fight, and Glenn Close as Hispanist scholar, who specializes in queer history.

While it does feel excessive in length at 160 minutes, the ambitious LA BOLA NEGRA proves a rewarding watch. It screens at TIFF ’26:

Wednesday, September 16
Royal Alexandra Theatre
4:30 pm

Friday, September 18
Royal Alexandra Theatre
4:15 pm

Saturday, September 19
VISA Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre
2:00 pm

Just getting caught-up here! Apologies, have been a bit under the weather and still trying to make it through this Festival!

So hard to believe the Festival ends already tomorrow! What a whirlwind it’s been. Here are some sightings, including:

•Matthew Lillard at tiff for CARRIE

•Hudson Williams at tiff for YAGA

•Michelle Yeoh at tiff for THE SURGEON and IT’S MY TIME

•Lee Min-ho at tiff for THE ASSASSIN(S)

•Penélope Cruz, Los Javis, Milo Quifes, Carlos González, and Miguel Bernardeau at tiff for LA BOLA NEGRA

•Carrie Coon and Guy Nattiv at tiff for THE LIBERATION

•Rami Malek and Tom Sturridge at tiff for THE MAN I LOVE

•Stanley Yau of Mirror at tiff for THE AGE OF GOODBYE and A NIGHT OF HONG KONG CINEMA

In case you didn’t get a chance to check them out, our chats with Michelle Yeoh and Carrie Coon!

Also some highlights from MAKING WAVES WITH HUDSON WILLIAMS for you:

…and something for all the Minoz out there!

…and also amazing being on the carpet for LA BOLA NEGRA which I finally am getting to see today! This received what is being called the lomgest standing ovation in tiff‘s history.

Our final photo set of tiff ’26 for CARRIE, which premiered last night

(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong)

By Nicholas Porteous

A high-profile architect (Javier Bardem) is recruited to build an underground bunker for a famous billionaire, just in case of the apocalypse–all while his marriage (to Bardem’s real-life wife Penélope Cruz) is sputtering towards its potential end.

Florian Zeller‘s Bunker isn’t a conventional narrative–one beat leading directly to the next. It feels more like a series of provocative scenarios that gradually compound on top of each other to make a broad statement about modern existence. Its tone is difficult to pin down. Structurally, it reminds me of an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, and it isn’t without a sense of humour, but it’s also very earnest–by no means a comedy. It is occasionally successful at threading this seriocomic needle. A meeting with the unnamed billionaire–played with a fantastic, understated mischievousness by Paul Dano–is a perfect oddity. But most of the time, Bunker falls short of profundity–playing its more obvious ideas as though they’re revelations. When a friend asks how Bardem and Cruz can stay married for over a decade even though we grow into different people over time, there’s no lingering feeling in the room that this is the sort of baseline question you’d get on yahoo answers.

There’s a fun, meta quality to seeing Bardem and Cruz play a married couple. While I think it’s unlikely this highly strained relationship is a reflection of their real lives, watching a pair of top-tier, Oscar-winning spouses work together is undeniably entertaining. It’s unfortunate that the script they’re working from doesn’t feel as deep as their performances. Zeller slowly builds a tapestry of tension, but he collapses any fun ambiguity between these conflicting ideas by Bunker‘s far too clear-cut ending.

Bunker releases in early 2027

tiff ’26 Day 5 and 6 sightings were our most stacked days yet, including:

•Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem and Florian Zeller for BUNKER
•Jesse Eisenberg and Julianne Moore for THE DEBUT
•Jack O’Connell and Guy Pearce for INK
•Jennifer Coolidge for GIRL GROUP
•Alden Ehrenreich for A TALENT FOR MURDER
•Kim Hyun-joo and Bae Hyeong-seong for PARADISE LOST
•Will Sharpe for IN WAVES
•Takashi Miike and Shun Oguro for BAD LIEUTENANT: TOKYO
•Cole Sprouse for VINTAGE VIOLENCE
•Jacob Tremblay for WILDWOOD
•Kate and Rooney Mara, Orlando Bloom and Domhnall Gleeson for BUCKING FASTARD
•Aimee Lou Wood and Johnny Flynn for IDIOT
•Giancarlo Esposito and John Turturro for THE LAST LIVING PICKPOCKET IN NEW YORK

…and so much more!

Thank you again to @sohohoteltoronto
for their generous support this Festival..This IS the spot to stay at tiff!

(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong)

TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey is delighted to share the final honourees of this year’s TIFF Tribute Awards, presented in partnership with Rolex. Academy Award–winning legend Helen Mirren will receive the TIFF Share Her Journey Groundbreaker Award, presented by Joanna Griffiths and the Women of Knix; acclaimed cinematographer Adam Pietkiewicz will receive the TIFF Variety Artisan Award; beloved Canadian actor, writer, director, and producer Seth Rogen will be presented with the TIFF Norman Jewison Career Achievement Award, presented by The Budman Family; and award-winning filmmaker Bassam Tariq will receive the TIFF Rising Talent Award. An additional TIFF Special Tribute Award will be presented to global superstar Fan Bingbing. Honourees will be joining previously announced recipients Penélope Cruz, Lee Chang-dong, Rosalind Eleazar, Siân Heder, and Isabelle Huppert.

“Helen Mirren and Fan Bingbing bring bold, compelling performances to this year’s Festival, building on iconic bodies of work,” said Cameron Bailey, CEO, TIFF. “Bassam Tariq’s Your Mother, Your Mother, Your Mother will confirm his reputation as a dazzling storyteller, and we recognize Adam Pietkiewicz for crafting never-before-seen images from one of the world’s most remote regions. And we will be forever grateful to writer, actor, director and producer Seth Rogen for sharing his wildly Canadian talents with the world.”

Taking place Sunday, September 13 at Fairmont Royal York Hotel Toronto, the eighth annual awards gala is TIFF’s largest annual fundraiser with proceeds supporting TIFF’s impact initiatives, expanding access to bold world-class cinema while advancing artist development, industry leadership, community engagement, and year-round cultural impact. The evening will see industry peers, international filmmakers, and distinguished honourees gathered to celebrate cinematic excellence as awards are formally presented during an intimate ceremony, with the full list of presenters to be announced on September 9. Presented in partnership with Rolex, with support from RBC, Fairmont Royal York Hotel, and Don Julio.

Newly announced 2026 TIFF Tribute Awards honourees

Fan Bingbing — TIFF Special Tribute Award

Fan Bingbing is an award-winning Chinese actor, producer, and international festival juror whose screen career spans three decades across Asian and global cinema. She returns to TIFF for the World Premiere Gala Presentation of Wayne Wang’s Diary of a Mad Old Man. Bingbing first rose to prominence in the hit television series My Fair Princess (1998) before establishing herself as a leading film star with roles in Feng Xiaogang’s Cell Phone (2003) and Li Yu’s Lost in Beijing (2007) and Buddha Mountain (2010), the latter earning her Best Actress at the Tokyo International Film Festival, alongside a Golden Horse Award for The Matrimony (2007). She achieved further critical acclaim for Feng Xiaogang’s I Am Not Madame Bovary (TIFF ’16), winning the Silver Shell for Best Actress at San Sebastián alongside Best Actress honours at the Golden Rooster Awards and Asian Film Awards. Her international feature credits include Kang Je-gyu’s My Way (2011), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), Renny Harlin’s Skiptrace (2016), Simon Kinberg’s The 355 (2022), and Han Shuai’s Green Night (2023). Most recently, Bingbing starred in Chong Keat Aun’s Mother Bhumi (2025), earning the Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actress.

The TIFF Special Tribute Award recognizes an individual who has made an extraordinary and unique contribution to the world of film, leaving a lasting legacy through their dedication and artistry. Previous recipients include Lee Byung Hun, Zacharias Kunuk, and Jafar Panahi (2025), Zhao Tao (2024), Andy Lau (2023), Dionne Warwick (2021), and David Foster (2019).

Helen Mirren — TIFF Share Her Journey Groundbreaker Award, presented by Joanna Griffiths and the Women of Knix

One of the most distinguished actors, Academy Award, BAFTA, and Emmy winner Helen Mirren is celebrated for her legendary work across film, television, and theatre spanning more than five decades. Mirren returns to TIFF for the World Premiere of Anton Corbijn’s A Talent for Murder, starring as author Patricia Highsmith in this chamber thriller. Best known for her Oscar-winning portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen (TIFF ’06), a role she reprised on Broadway in The Audience (2015) to win a Tony Award, Mirren’s extensive film credits span The Madness of King George (1994), Gosford Park (TIFF ’01), The Last Station (TIFF ’09), The Debt (TIFF ’10), The Leisure Seeker (TIFF ’17) Golda (2023), Barbie (2023), and The Thursday Murder Club (2025). On television, she starred in the groundbreaking series Prime Suspect (1991–2006), and more recently in 1923 (2022–2025) and MobLand (2025–2026). Beyond her celebrated acting legacy, Mirren has been a dedicated advocate for women in entertainment and equal representation across creative fields. Mirren is also honoured with the SAG Life Achievement Award and the Golden Globes’ Cecil B. DeMille Award.

The TIFF Share Her Journey Groundbreaker Award is presented by Joanna Griffiths and the Women of Knix. It is inspired by TIFF’s Share Her Journey initiative, created to address gender parity in the film industry, to champion women at every stage of their creative journey, and to shine a spotlight on women creators making a significant difference. Past recipients include Jodie Foster (2025), Cate Blanchett (2024), Patricia Arquette (2023), and Michelle Yeoh (2022).

Adam Pietkiewicz — TIFF Variety Artisan Award

Polish cinematographer Adam Pietkiewicz makes his TIFF debut as the cinematographer of Theja Rio’s Angh, which makes its World Premiere in Platform, the Festival’s competitive programme. Shot entirely on 16mm, the film follows his feature debut on Krzysztof Skonieczny’s Wrooklyn Zoo (2024), for which he received a Golden Frog nomination at Camerimage 2024. Pietkiewicz’s visual sensibility was shaped by documentary and street photography before he formally studied at the Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School in Poland and the National Film and Television School (NFTS) in the UK. His credits also include work as a camera operator on Netflix’s Emmy-winning series Baby Reindeer (2024) and the Cannes La Cinef award-winning short Bunnyhood (2024).

The TIFF Variety Artisan Award recognizes a distinguished creative who has excelled at their craft and made an outstanding contribution to cinema and entertainment. Previous recipients of this award include Kazu Hiro (2025), Clément Ducol and Camille (2024), Łukasz Żal (2023), Hildur Guðnadóttir (2022), Ari Wegner (2021), Terence Blanchard (2020), and Roger Deakins (2019).

Seth Rogen — TIFF Norman Jewison Career Achievement Award presented by The Budman Family

Seth Rogen is an Emmy-winning multi-hyphenate actor, writer, director, and producer, whose unmistakable voice has helped shape and define modern comedy. Following his breakout in Freaks and Geeks (1999–2000) and a run of genre-defining hits like Superbad (2007), Knocked Up (2007), and Pineapple Express (2008), he co-founded Point Grey Pictures in 2011, producing acclaimed works such as Neighbors (2014) and Apple TV’s Emmy-winning series The Studio (2025). He recently starred in The Invite (2026) and returns to TIFF with the World Premiere Gala Presentation of Lauren Miller Rogen’s Babies, and serves as producer and voice actor in Leah Nelson’s animated feature Tangles. His past TIFF World Premieres include Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans (TIFF ’22) and Aziz Ansari’s Good Fortune (TIFF ’25). Rogen is also the bestselling author of Yearbook and leads Houseplant, the lifestyle company he co-founded with Evan Goldberg and Michael Mohr. With his wife, Lauren Miller Rogen, he co-founded Hilarity for Charity, supporting Alzheimer care and brain health education.

Introduced in 2023, the TIFF Norman Jewison Career Achievement Award presented by The Budman Family recognizes Canadians in the film industry who have made a global impact with their careers. Past recipients include Catherine O’Hara (2025), David Cronenberg (2024), and Shawn Levy (2023).

Bassam Tariq — TIFF Rising Talent Award, presented by Amazon MGM Studios

Filmmaker Bassam Tariq makes his TIFF debut with the World Premiere Special Presentation of his eagerly anticipated Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, starring Oscar winner Mahershala Ali as a devout family man and contract killer. Beginning his career in documentary before transitioning into narrative features, Tariq has built an international reputation through deeply personal storytelling that explores faith, belonging, and human resilience. His acclaimed filmography includes the SXSW breakout These Birds Walk (2013), named one of the 21st century’s best international films by The New Yorker, the Sundance Jury Prize–winning short Ghosts of Sugar Land (2019), and his BAFTA-nominated narrative debut Mogul Mowgli (2020), starring Riz Ahmed.

Presented by Amazon MGM Studios, this award is inspired by Torontonian Mary Pickford, the groundbreaking actor, producer, and co-founder of United Artists, whose impact continues today. Past recipients include HIKARI (2025), Durga Chew-Bose (2024), Carolina Markowicz (2023), Sally El Hosaini (2022), Danis Goulet (2021), Tracey Deer (2020), and Mati Diop (2019).

About Rolex and Cinema:

Rolex celebrates human achievement as a journey marked by milestones, emotions, and defining moments. For more than half a century, the brand has partnered some of the world’s most talented artists and leading cultural institutions to promote excellence and the transmission of artistic heritage, creating a link between the past, present, and future.

Through the Perpetual Arts Initiative, a broad portfolio of arts that extends through architecture, cinema, dance, music, literature, theatre, and visual arts, the brand confirms its long-term commitment to global culture. The company has had close ties with the film industry for decades, its watches playing a role in numerous films, including Oscar®-winning masterpieces. Since 2017, Rolex has supported the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, serving as Proud Sponsor of the Oscars®, hosting the event’s Greenroom, as well as supporting the Governors Awards, which recognize lifetime achievement and humanitarian efforts in the film industry. Rolex also sponsors Film at Lincoln Center as Official Partner and Exclusive Timepiece.

The company promotes achievement through Testimonees such as James Cameron, Leonardo DiCaprio, Zendaya, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Martin Scorsese, Ava DuVernay, and Jia Zhang-ke. It also assists in the preservation of film history for future generations as a Founding Supporter of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, as a partner of The Film Foundation and through its support to the National Film and Television School in the UK.

Elevation Pictures x Mr. Will want to give Readers a chance to win passes to a Toronto Advance Screening of FERRARI

Screening Details:

TORONTO – Monday, December 18th at 7:00 PM, Cineplex Cinemas Varsity and VIP

Synopsis:

It is the summer of 1957. Behind the spectacle of Formula 1, ex-racer Enzo Ferrari is in crisis. Bankruptcy threatens the factory he and his wife, Laura built from nothing ten years earlier. Their volatile marriage has been battered by the loss of their son, Dino a year earlier. Ferrari struggles to acknowledge his son Piero with Lina Lardi. Meanwhile, his drivers’ passion to win pushes them to the edge as they launch into the treacherous 1,000-mile race across Italy, the Mille Miglia. In theatres this Christmas.

To enter for a chance to win, click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK. Re-Tweet the below from our “X” account for an extra chance!

Rules and regulations here.

(Photo/video credit: Elevation Pictures)

FERRARI is in theatres this Christmas. Here’s a brand new Trailer for the Holiday release from Michael Mann, starring Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz.

Synopsis:

It is the summer of 1957. Behind the spectacle of Formula 1, ex-racer Enzo Ferrari is in crisis. Bankruptcy threatens the factory he and his wife, Laura built from nothing ten years earlier. Their volatile marriage has been battered by the loss of their son, Dino a year earlier. Ferrari struggles to acknowledge his son Piero with Lina Lardi. Meanwhile, his drivers’ passion to win pushes them to the edge as they launch into the treacherous 1,000-mile race across Italy, the Mille Miglia.

(Photo/video credit: Elevation Pictures)

We’ve waited forever for this and the new Trailer for THE 355 finally has surfaced!

Synopsis:

When a top-secret weapon falls into mercenary hands, wild card CIA agent Mason “Mace” Brown (Oscar®-nominated actress Jessica Chastain) will need to join forces with rival badass German agent Marie (Diane Kruger, In the Fade), former MI6 ally and cutting-edge computer specialist Khadijah (Oscar® winner Lupita Nyong’o), and skilled Colombian psychologist Graciela (Oscar® winner Penélope Cruz) on a lethal, breakneck mission to retrieve it, while also staying one-step ahead of a mysterious woman, Lin Mi Sheng (Bingbing Fan, X-Men: Days of Future Past), who is tracking their every move.

As the action rockets around the globe from the cafes of Paris to the markets of Morocco to the opulent auction houses of Shanghai, the quartet of women will forge a tenuous loyalty that could protect the world—or get them killed.

The film also stars Édgar Ramirez (The Girl on the Train) and Sebastian Stan (Avengers: Endgame).

THE 355 is in theatres January 7, 2021.

(Photo/video credit: Universal Pictures Canada)

Check-out this Trailer for THE 355 which boasts a phenomenal female Cast!

Synopsis:

A dream team of formidable female stars come together in a hard-driving original approach to the globe-trotting espionage genre in The 355.

When a top-secret weapon falls into mercenary hands, wild card CIA agent Mason “Mace” Brown (Oscar®-nominated actress Jessica Chastain) will need to join forces with rival badass German agent Marie (Diane Kruger, In the Fade), former MI6 ally and cutting-edge computer specialist Khadijah (Oscar® winner Lupita Nyong’o), and skilled Colombian psychologist Graciela (Oscar® winner Penélope Cruz) on a lethal, breakneck mission to retrieve it, while also staying one-step ahead of a mysterious woman, Lin Mi Sheng (Bingbing Fan, X-Men: Days of Future Past), who is tracking their every move.

As the action rockets around the globe from the cafes of Paris to the markets of Morocco to the wealth and glamour of Shanghai, the quartet of women will forge a tenuous loyalty that could protect the world—or get them killed.

See the Trailer:

eOne Films release THE 355 is in theatres January 15, 2021.

(Photo/video credit: eOne Films)

Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong

Wasp Network focuses on a few Cuban intelligence agents who pose as dissidents during the country’s 90s post-Soviet Union economic collapse.

Director Olivier Assayas is a master of telling multiple character storylines and making them all come together naturally. With Wasp Network, he continues on this path. This time around he focuses on three different intelligence agents with different things to lose and gain. Although the Film does get a bit slow at times it’s the performances from an all-star Cast that keep the audience’s attention. Those intense performances are from Edgar Ramírez, Gael García Bernal, and Wagner Moura. Yet the most captivating performances come from Penélope Cruz and Ana de Armas who are the ones most affected by their husband’s actions.

Wasp Network screens at TIFF on Mon, Sep 9 at Ryerson Theatre at 6 PM, Tue, Sep 10 at Scotiabank Theatre at 6 PM, and Sat, Sep 14 at Ryerson Theatre at 8:30 PM.