The 51st edition of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF 2026) has officially begun unveiling its 2026 lineup, announcing the first three Gala Presentations, including its Opening Night Film. Leading the first wave is Siân Heder’s Being Heumann, the Academy Award-winning filmmaker’s first feature since CODA, alongside Susanna White’s Prima Facie and South Korean director Hur Jin-ho’s The Assassin(s). The festival will run from September 10 to September 20, with Being Heumann opening the event with its world premiere on September 10 at Roy Thomson Hall.
TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey called Being Heumann a fitting choice to launch this year’s festival. “We’re thrilled to open this year’s festival with Siân Heder’s inspiring follow-up to her Oscar-winning CODA. Being Heumann features an electric performance from Ruth Madeley in the story of Judy Heumann, a world-changing advocate for accessibility,” Bailey said in an official statement.
The Apple Original Film marks Heder’s return to feature filmmaking following CODA, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2022. Based on Judy Heumann’s memoir Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist, the film stars Ruth Madeley as the pioneering disability rights activist whose leadership helped transform accessibility legislation in the United States.
The story focuses on the historic 1977 disability rights sit-in led by Heumann, one of the longest non-violent occupations of a federal building in U.S. history. The cast also includes Mark Ruffalo, Dylan O’Brien, Daniel Durant, Rob Delaney, and Miriam Silverman.
The second Gala announcement is Prima Facie, directed by Susanna White and starring Cynthia Erivo. Adapted by playwright Suzie Miller from her own Tony Award-winning one-woman stage play, the legal drama follows ambitious British defence barrister Tessa Ensler, whose belief in the justice system is shattered after she is sexually assaulted by a colleague.
The production brings together Australia’s Bunya Productions and the UK’s Embankment Films in association with Story Works Studios. Embankment is handling international sales alongside U.S. representatives UTA Independent Film Group and CAA Media Finance, while Camelback Productions, led by Anita Verma-Lallian, serves as co-producer and co-financier.
The third Gala title is The Assassin(s) from acclaimed South Korean filmmaker Hur Jin-ho, who returns to Toronto after premiering A Normal Family at the festival in 2023. Produced by Hive Media Corp, the political thriller is set in 1974 and follows a detective, a newspaper editor, and a rookie reporter investigating the aftermath of the attempted assassination of South Korean President Park Chung-hee.
The film stars Yoo Hae-jin, fresh off this year’s blockbuster The King’s Warden, alongside Park Hae-il (Decision to Leave) and Lee Min-ho (Pachinko). International sales are being handled by KT Studio Genie.
All three films will screen as Gala Presentations, one of TIFF’s flagship sections reserved for many of the festival’s highest-profile premieres. While only three titles have been announced so far, TIFF has already mapped out the rollout for the remainder of its lineup. The festival will reveal its full Gala Presentations and Special Presentations slate on July 20, followed by Platform on July 21, Discovery on July 22, and Primetime on July 23. Additional programme announcements will continue into August, with Centrepiece, Wavelengths, and Classics arriving on August 4, Docs and Short Cuts on August 5, and the fan-favourite Midnight Madness lineup on August 6.
TIFF is also introducing several significant initiatives this year. For the first time, the festival is launching TIFF: The Market, an official industry marketplace that will run from September 10 to 16 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The new hub is designed to bring together filmmakers, distributors, financiers, producers, buyers, and sales agents, further strengthening TIFF’s position as one of the industry’s most important business events.
The convention centre’s John Bassett Theatre has also been added as an official screening venue, joining Roy Thomson Hall, TIFF Lightbox, the Visa Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre, Scotiabank Theatre Toronto, Cinema Park, and the Royal Alexandra Theatre. Beyond film premieres, the festival will once again host its popular In Conversation With… series featuring filmmakers and actors, post-screening Q&A sessions, and the annual Festival Street celebrations outside TIFF Lightbox.
Awards remain a major part of the festival’s identity. TIFF will announce its winners, including the influential People’s Choice Award, on the final day of the festival, September 20. Last year’s audience award went to Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet, continuing the prize’s reputation as one of the strongest early indicators in the Academy Awards race.
Another notable change comes with the Platform Award. Beginning this year, a non-English-language winner of the competition will become eligible for Academy Award consideration in the Best International Feature Film category, further increasing the programme’s importance within the global awards landscape.
The festival will also host the eighth TIFF Tribute Awards gala fundraiser on September 13 at Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York Hotel, celebrating outstanding achievements in cinema during the festival. With the Opening Night Film now confirmed and the first three Gala premieres unveiled, TIFF 2026 has officially begun its countdown. The coming weeks will bring dozens more film announcements, but the festival has already signalled an opening lineup that combines awards contenders, international cinema, and high-profile world premieres as it prepares for another major year on the global festival circuit.
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