Chapter 7 Finds Its Centrepiece – front mezz junkies, Theater News

Frontmezzjunkies reports: Centrepiece brings World Premieres, international discoveries, Canadian cinema, and another wave of irresistible possibilities to TIFF51

By Ross

There is something wonderfully satisfying about finally knowing that I will be back covering TIFF. After the anticipation, the applications, and the waiting, I now know that my TIFF51 adventure is officially happening. The 51st edition of the Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 10 to 20, and I am already looking ahead to what will likely become another wonderfully chaotic stretch of films, conversations, discoveries, and far too many decisions about what to see next. Last year I somehow made my way through more than 25 films, which still feels slightly ridiculous when I think about it. I suspect TIFF51 may once again send me racing from screening to screening with that familiar mixture of excitement, exhaustion, curiosity, and the hope that the next film might be the one I am still talking about weeks later, like I did with last year’s People’s Choice Award winner, “Hamnet“.

The latest piece of that puzzle is TIFF’s 2026 Centrepiece programme, presented by Intrepid Travel. With 54 films from filmmakers representing 50 countries, the lineup brings together World Premieres, North American and Canadian premieres, international festival discoveries, a substantial group of Canadian films, and a record-setting eight animated features. There are plenty of names here that immediately catch my attention, from Diego Luna and Anthony Chen to Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Valeska Grisebach, Avi Nesher, Banjong Pisanthanakun, Marie Clements, David Bezmozgis, Cody Lightning, and Yonfan. The World Premiere slate alone offers plenty to investigate, including “Dorothy” from Karthik Subbaraj, “Four Seasons in Java” from Kamila Andini, “Inherit” from Banjong Pisanthanakun, “Our Loves” from Avi Nesher, “The Surgeon” from Roshan Sethi, and “The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives” from Daniel Oriahi. Add films such as “Iron Boy“, “The Dreamed Adventure“, “Woman Unknown“, “Ashes“, Conversation With The Sea, and “We Are All Strangers“, and the Centrepiece programme starts looking like exactly the kind of TIFF rabbit hole I am happy to disappear into.

I am particularly intrigued by the range of filmmaking represented here, including the Canadian World Premieres “How We Stand“, “L’AUTRE“, “Neverman“, “Smudge the Blades“, “Sunburn“, “The Betrayers“, “Toy Gun Bandit“, and “Where the River Begins“. The eight animated features also give the programme another fascinating dimension, from Louise Bagnall’s “Julián” and Xu Zao’s “Light Pillar” to Julien Chheng’s “Muyi“, Leah Nelson’s “Tangles“, “The Violinist” from Ervin Han and Raúl García, and Sébastien Laudenbach’s “Viva Carmen“. There is something wonderfully TIFF about having so many different cinematic worlds appearing within the same festival programme, with filmmakers from across the globe and audiences gathering in Toronto to see what they have created. For someone preparing to spend eleven days chasing films around the city, this is the kind of announcement that makes my head swim in delightful anticipation.

And now that I know I will be there to experience it, the Centrepiece announcement feels like another door opening into TIFF51. I know there will be films I cannot possibly predict, discoveries that will appear on my radar at the last minute, and plenty of moments when the carefully constructed schedule gets thrown out the window because something else suddenly sounds irresistible. That is part of why I keep coming back to TIFF, and why my Chapter 7 feels so exciting. More than 25 films last year gave me an enormous cinematic adventure, and I am quite happy to imagine another festival filled with new stories, unexpected favourites, and those wonderful moments when you walk out of a screening knowing you’ve experienced something you can’t wait to share. TIFF51 is still weeks away, but for me, the festival has officially begun.

2026 Centrepiece programme (in alphabetical order):

A Girl Unknown | Zou Jing | China
North American Premiere

After Elena | Shawn Garry | Chile, Colombia, Italy
World Premiere

Ah Girl | Ang Geck Geck Priscilla | Singapore
North American Premiere

Ashes | Diego Luna | Mexico, Spain
North American Premiere

Back in Black | Ron Murphy | Canada
World Premiere

Ben’Imana | Marie-Clementine Dusabejambo | Rwanda, Gabon, France, Norway
North American Premiere

Congo Boy | Rafiki Fariala | Central African Republic, France, Democratic Republic of Congo, Italy
North American Premiere

Conversation With The Sea | Muayad Alayan | Palestine
North American Premiere

Dorothy | Karthik Subbaraj | India
World Premiere

Eklipse | Manuel Wetscher | Austria, Italy
North American Premiere

Elephants in the Fog | Abinash Bikram Shah | Nepal, France, Germany, Brazil, Norway
North American Premiere

Everytime | Sandra Wollner | Austria, Germany
North American Premiere

Flies | Fernando Eimbcke | Mexico
North American Premiere

Four Seasons in Java | Kamila Andini | Indonesia, France, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore
World Premiere

Furies | Rami Kodeih | Lebanon, Brazil
North American Premiere

Future Tense | Jenna Cato Bass | South Africa, Australia
World Premiere

God Bless You, Mr Kopu | Alex Liu | New Zealand, Australia
World Premiere

Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! | Josef Kubota Wladyka | USA
Canadian Premiere

How We Stand | Marie Clements | Canada
World Premiere

Inherit | Banjong Pisanthanakun | Thailand
World Premiere

Intermission | Yonfan | Hong Kong
North American Premiere

Iron Boy | Louis Clichy | France, Belgium
North American Premiere

Julián | Louise Bagnall | Luxembourg, Ireland, Canada, Denmark
North American Premiere

La Gradiva | Marine Atlan | France, Italy
North American Premiere

L’AUTRE | Alexandre Franchi | Canada
World Premiere

Lemonade | Kim Bartley | Ireland, United Kingdom
World Premiere

Light Pillar | Xu Zao | China
North American Premiere

Long Long Night | Kyu Bock Youm | South Korea
World Premiere

Love is the monster | Neto Villalobos Brenes | Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, Chile, Mexico
World Premiere

Marie Madeleine | Géssica Généus | France, Haiti, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg
North American Premiere

Muyi | Julien Chheng | France
North American Premiere

Neverman | Rodrigo Barriuso | Canada
World Premiere

Our Loves | Avi Nesher | Israel
World Premiere

Rehearsals for a Revolution | Pegah Ahangarani | Czech Republic, Spain
Canadian Premiere

Smudge the Blades | Cody Lightning | Canada
World Premiere

Soumsoum, The Night of the Stars | Mahamat-Saleh Haroun | Chad, France
North American Premiere

Sunburn | Serville Poblete | Canada
World Premiere

Tangles | Leah Nelson | Canada, USA
North American Premiere

The Betrayers | David Bezmozgis | Canada, Ukraine
World Premiere

The bovine with the curved horns | Omar E. Ospina Giraldo | Colombia
World Premiere

The City of the Living | Edoardo Gabbriellini | Italy
International Premiere

The Difficult Bride | Rubaiyat Hossain | France, Bangladesh, Germany, Norway, Portugal
North American Premiere

The Dreamed Adventure | Valeska Grisebach | Germany, France, Bulgaria, Austria
North American Premiere

The Lost Children Of Tuam | Frank Berry | Ireland
International Premiere

The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives | Daniel Oriahi | Nigeria
World Premiere

The Surgeon | Roshan Sethi | Ireland
World Premiere

The Violinist | Ervin Han, Raúl García | Singapore, Spain, Italy
North American Premiere

Thirteen in Gaza | Hosam Abu Dan | Palestine
World Premiere

Toy Gun Bandit | Rémi St-Michel | Canada
World Premiere

Trash Mountain | Kris Rey | USA
World Premiere

Viva Carmen | Sébastien Laudenbach | France
North American Premiere

We Are All Strangers | Anthony Chen | Singapore
North American Premiere

Where the River Begins | Juan Andrés Arango | Canada, Colombia, Norway
World Premiere

Woman Unknown | May el-Toukhy | Denmark
North American Premiere

The 51st edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, presented by Rogers, runs September 10–20, 2026. For more information, click here.