After the glitz and glamour that encompassed celebrating its fiftieth anniversary last year, one would think the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) would present itself in a lower key. After all, "Tiffty One" (TIFF + fifty-one) doesn't roll off the tongue as much as "Tiffty" did last year, nor will it likely be as ubiquitous.

Luckily, CEO Cameron Bailey and his programming team don't understand the notion of slowing down, a self-imposed expectation they've placed upon themselves after years of presenting hundreds of eye-catching films over eleven days and several swanky venues, with many going on to massive awards and box office success. Notable standouts from last year include the box office sensation Obsession, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Train Dreams, and No Other Choice.

I normally spend all eleven days at the festival, mingling with friends and colleagues as we all rush between screenings, often scarfing down a street hot dog or Tim Hortons donut along the way. Because of a previous engagement, my time this year has been reduced to six days, losing the first weekend. In turn, that will shrink my total viewing from the usual 36-38 films to about 25-27 (yes, I'm aware that's still an abnormal number for anyone). All in all, this condensed timeline will push me to be a bit more strategic about what I see and when I see it. I love the rush and grind of the festival, the threat of being buried under the avalanche if you don't keep your wits about you.

The Cannes Film Festival has seen an exponential increase in its importance for the Oscar race over the past few years, debuting major domestic and international contenders like Anora, Anatomy of a Fall, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value, and Emilia Pérez. Each made a stop in Toronto to kick-start the next phase of their awards campaigns. Many of this year's big players will try to replicate that strategy, ensuring another battle in the war for audience attention between the major arthouse distributors. Neon will be bringing over Cristian Mungiu’s Palme d'Or winner Fjord, Ryusuke Hamaguchi's 196-minute nursing home drama All of a Sudden, and Arthur Harari's existential body-swap thriller The Unknown. Netflix has the sweeping gay wartime drama La Bola Negra and the Léa Seydoux-starring thriller Gentle Monster. And then there's Mubi with the Belgian World War I film Coward and Russian dissident Andrey Zvyagintsev's Minotaur. Also scattered throughout are other titles that received good marks, such as Club Kid, The Man I Love, The Beloved, Bitter Christmas, La Gradiva, and Clarissa.

There will also be some Sundance Film Festival films venturing north after their debuts in the Utah mountains back in January. Josephine was by far the best film I saw then, and I'm hoping rookie distributor Sumerian Pictures can reignite audience passion. Sony Pictures Classics is bringing along a trio of their films: Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!, The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, and Bedford Park. Once Upon a Time in Harlem, the standout documentary of the festival, will also make an appearance.

Speaking of mountains, coming immediately after its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado is Tenzing, a biopic on Tenzing Norgay who, alongside Edmund Hillary, became the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest. While that film looks to the past, famed documentarians Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin will illustrate the present with Everest: The Other Side, the story of two ski mountaineers attempting to ski down the mountain's North Face.

Around the same time as the Telluride Film Festival, several international titles from big-name auteurs will make their world premieres at the Venice Film Festival. Hirokazu Kore-eda suffered a rare misstep earlier in the year with Sheep in the Box, which he'll look to rectify with Look Back, his adaptation of the immensely popular manga and anime film. Two European directors also looking to make a comeback are Florian Zeller and Nanni Moretti. The former will present Bunker, starring acting power couple Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz, while the latter has Louis Garrel in the decades-spanning romance It Will Happen Tonight. Lee Chang-dong is returning to the silver screen after an extended hiatus with Possible Love. Netflix will throw quite a bit of its weight behind that title as it tours throughout the fall festival circuit.

Other directors will either be following up hugely acclaimed work and/or making their triumphant returns to Toronto. Peter Farrelly began his unlikely path to a Best Picture Oscar for Green Book at TIFF in 2018. He returns with I Play Rocky, the underdog story of how the unknown Sylvester Stallone put his heart and soul on the line to make a little movie called Rocky. CODA director Siân Heder opens the festival with Being Heumann, an inspiring drama about disability activist Judy Heumann. The legendary Mike Leigh recently revealed that Tender Loving Care will likely be his final feature, which features Widow's Bay breakout and Emmy favorite Kate O'Flynn. And Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle dramatizes the rise of Rupert Murdoch and his role in reshaping the modern news landscape with The Sun and Fox News in Ink.

Many famous actors will take a break from the spotlight and step behind the camera, including Chris Rock (Misty Green), Jesse Eisenberg (The Debut), Tim Blake Nelson (The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd), Cody Fern (Closing Night), and Courteney Cox (Evil Genius). Eisenberg's previous film, A Real Pain, scored an Oscar for Kieran Culkin. I have my eye on beloved industry veteran Paul Giamatti receiving a similar treatment, especially after he came so close a few years ago with The Holdovers. Other stars coming into the festival with serious Oscar buzz are Cynthia Erivo (Prima Facie), Andrew Scott (Elsinore), John Malkovich (Wild Horse Nine), and Mahershala Ali (Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother).

On top of everything already mentioned, there's a swath of world premieres, each with the possibility to break out into the larger cultural conversation. The Julia Set will be the follow-up feature performance by One Battle After Another breakout star Chase Infiniti; Helen Mirren will play famed author Patricia Highsmith in A Talent for Murder, Seth Rogen and Anna Kendrick are a couple debating if they should have a child in Babies, and Jay Baruchel portrays “The Mad Canadian” stuntman Ken Carter in the aptly titled The Stunt Driver.

Over a dozen other films not already mentioned have my eye, further illustrating the biggest conundrum of being a voracious cinephile at TIFF. No matter how big your appetite is, and how well you plan, you will never have enough time to see everything that interests you. Believe me, I've tried my best to craft a perfect schedule over the years, but something always falls through the cracks. And yet, that's a beautiful thing, allowing everyone to have their own experience, sharing stories about what they did and didn't love. I'll pass along my tale through several full reviews during the festival, as well as a full recap article once I've regained my sanity back home.

The 2026 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 10-20th. To browse the full lineup, visit the festival website.