On Monday, the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival announced its hotly anticipated Gala and Special Presentations programs, showcasing feature films from close to 30 countries along with celebrated directors such as Danny Boyle, Pedro Almodóvar, Cristian Mungiu, Chris Rock, Mike Leigh, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Hirokazu Kore-eda and many more. The 51st edition of TIFF will run September 10-20, 2026 in Downtown Toronto.
Some of the highlights of the Special Presentations program include “I Play Rocky,” a biographical sports drama about the making of Sylvester Stallone’s 1976 film “Rocky,” starring Anthony Ippolito as the punchy actor/screenwriter and directed by Peter Farrelly, whose film “Green Book” debuted at TIFF and went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture, and “Misty Green,” a drama written, directed by and starring Chris Rock alongside a loaded cast, including Rosalind Eleazar, Adam Driver, Daniel Kaluuya, Anna Kendrick, Topher Grace and Anthony Anderson.
TIFF further announced that its Closing Night Film will be “Villeneuve: The Rise of a Legend,” and no, it’s not about the acclaimed Canadian filmmaker behind “Dune” and “Incendies” but rather a sports drama following the early years of Canadian racer Gilles Villeneuve. That screening will take place on Saturday, Sept. 19.
Here are all the Gala and Special Presentations films:
A Talent for Murder | Anton Corbijn | United Kingdom, Italy
Man in Motion: The Rick Hansen Story | Adrian Buitenhuis | Canada
Onwards and Sideways | John Madden | United Kingdom
Prima Facie | Susanna White | Australia, United Kingdom
Spirit Guardians: The Last Secret of the First Emperor | Nguyen Phan Quang Binh | Vietnam
The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd | Tim Blake Nelson | USA
The Only Living Pickpocket in New York | Noah Segan | USA
Villeneuve: The Rise of a Legend | Yan Lanouette Turgeon | Canada
A Long Winter | Andrew Haigh | Canada, United Kingdom
All of a Sudden | Ryûsuke Hamaguchi | France, Japan, Germany, Belgium
All That She Wants | Scarlett Bermingham, Andrew Rhymer | USA, Canada
Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo | Takashi Miike | USA, United Kingdom, Japan
Clarissa | Arie Esiri, Chuko Esiri | Nigeria, USA
Everest: The Other Side | Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi | USA
Everybody Wants To F*** Me | Jonathan Schey | United Kingdom, France, USA
Fjord | Cristian Mungiu | Romania, France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark
In Alaska | Jaap van Heusden, Vinnie Karetak | Netherlands, Canada
La Bola Negra | Javier Calvo, Javier Ambrossi | Spain, France
Le Faux Soir | Michaël R. Roskam | Belgium, France
Minotaur | Andrey Zvyagintsev | France, Germany, Latvia
Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People? | Shinya Tsukamoto | Japan
The Age of Goodbyes | Edmund Yeo | Taiwan, Malaysia
Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother | Bassam Tariq | USA