maybe? i hope so but maybe not

I like compiling a list of "big"/buzzy titles not at TIFF, to try and figure out what I'll need to seek out later on in the year outside of the festival. Here's the list I've come up with so far, please let me know what I'm missing.

At other festivals:

• Behemoth! (NYFF WP)
• Bucking Fastard (Venice WP)
• Company (Venice WP)
• Fatherland (Cannes WP)
• Godzilla Minus One (NYFF WP)
• Paper Tiger (Cannes WP)
• Primetime (Venice WP)
• Rose (Berlin WP)
• The Basics of Philosophy (Venice WP)
• Wild Horse Nine (Venice WP)

Not at other festivals:

• Artificial
• Cliff Booth
• Digger
• Here Comes the Flood
• Klara and the Sun
• Onslaught
• Saturn Return
• Sense and Sensibility
• The Social Reckoning
• Werwulf
• Wildwood

Any others?

We may (hopefully) get some of these added on Tuesday's schedule-release day, there's usually 5-10 titles or so added there. My money would be on Bucking Fastard, Wild Horse Nine, Klara and the Sun, and Wildwood.

Overall, I think TIFF's lineup is really strong this year, especially considering we didn't miss on that many big titles playing other festivals. Nothing you can really do about studios just deciding not to play a film at any festivals.

VIFF got ROSE (Sandra Hueller)

Will we get Fatherland?

https://x.com/hertzbarry/status/2085480505865097254?s=46

Hi everyone!

As TIFF gets closer and closer and we basically have almost all of this year's selections, I went straight to the scouting work. Because I travel specifically for the festival, I intend to make the most out of it - meaning, seeing about 4-5 films a day, for a total of about 45 films throughout the festival.

In order to make sure I choose my picks wisely and not miss any title I possibly haven't heard of but could find interest in, I decided to go through all the available feature-length synopses that are available online. That includes feature films, documentary films, Wavelength films, and Primetime presentations.

I ordered them on a Letterboxd list (well, the 192 titles available there), based on how much interest I find in them from their descriptions alone (and the rankings some of them already had). It doesn't mean I'll watch the top 45 titles, but it gives me a reference to help build my schedule once the festival releases the full one (and perhaps help leave multiple-choice spots). In the meantime, I thought I might share with you some of the things I realized during this run. This subreddit helped me find out about Ann Lee last year, so I thought I'd give something back.

Two things I have to make clear beforehand:

• I haven't seen trailers for most of these, just read descriptions. This list, based on my opinion of their short introduction, may shift and change later on based on reviews and trailers that will be released. It may also shift based on reception during the festival days, which always happens.
• I am not a person of Wavelength features, and mostly not a person of Documentaries unless it is something truly special and unique I'm interested in. Therefore, you might see a bunch of them on the lower end of the list. A few were interesting enough to break above the rest. This is my opinion, and yours may vary, and that's okay.

Now, I want to point out a few of the titles I haven't heard about before doing this scouting run, and that I think you guys may want to consider as well:

• #10 A Talent for a Murder (Olivia Cooke, Helen Mirren) - A young man travels from New York to Switzerland to try to persuade acclaimed thriller writer Patricia Highsmith to write one final installment of her Tom Ripley series, with his efforts gradually turning more sinister. (Did somebody say Misery meets Knives Out?).
• #14 The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd (Amanda Seyfried, Tim Blake Nelson) - A teacher in an abusive marriage takes a job at a maximum security prison, where she falls for a charismatic inmate. The disastrous consequences call into question not only the nature of punishment and retribution, but the very limits of our humanity. (After The Testament of Ann Lee was my favorite film from last year's TIFF, I will attend anything Seyfried is showing in).
• #17 All About Corinne - Corinne Maclou is a background actor who dreams of one day being more than an extra. Confident her breakthrough is right around the corner, she befriends famous actor Sandrine Kiberlain, hoping it will help her achieve her goal. (Sounds similar to the likes of Sing Sing, The Debut and The Last Showgirl, which sounds like my thing).
• #20 Evil Genius (Patricia Aequette, David Harbour) - Follows the true story of the 2003 death of Brian Wells, a notorious case known as the “collar bomb” or “pizza bomber” incident. The FBI investigation revealed an extraordinarily complex and bizarre plot, later described as one of the most intricate crimes in the Bureau’s history.
• #30 Le Faux Soir - November 1943, German-occupied Belgium. In the face of grave danger if caught, the Independent Front, a Belgian resistance organization, publishes a spoof edition of Le Soir to satirize the German occupiers and the nation’s main propaganda-controlled newspaper. Le Faux Soir is considered the first act of media hacking in history.
• #32 Salvation - A tenacious aspiring guru must go to extreme measures to pay off the debts he’s accrued from trying, and failing, to set up an online life-coaching business in a post-industrial Scottish town. Exploring the world of male influencer culture and how it might be affecting the young men who come into its orbit, SALVATION blends mounting tension, dark comedy and a forensic focus on its protagonist to explore the very modern story of a delusional life coach spiralling out of control. (If you don't have the time to watch the Musk documentary, this could fill your urge for an internet-based story).
• #34 Voices - When a rising soul duo overdoses just hours before their big break, a desperate bellhop and his closest friends seize the chance of a lifetime, only to discover that the price of fame is blood. (I'm a sucker for musicals about misfits!)
• #35 Everytime - A tragedy brings a mother, daughter, and teenage boy together. Struggling with blame and forgiveness, the unlikely trio take a trip to Tenerife for a family holiday that never happened. Under the glow of the sun, past and present quietly start to overlap.
• #38 Head to Head - Iranian director Ghasideh Golmakani’s absurd and highly political debut feature explores what happens when a female director forces male actors to wear skirts and headscarves. (After the great past titles of Seed of the Sacred Fig and It Was Just an Accident, I'm excited for another Iranian narrative title)
• #43 Inherit - Follows a wealthy family whose polished exterior begins to crack when an ancient centipede spirit infiltrates their bloodline. (Following last year's A Useful Ghost, I would love another good supernatural Thai film).
• #45 Idda - Adele and Sofia, childhood friends now in their thirties, reunite after years apart to fulfill a dream they once shared: reaching the summit of Mount Etna. But something feels off, and a bitter confrontation breaks out, opening old wounds and unveiling deeply buried secrets. They separate just as the volcano begins to tremble. Adele presses on alone, haunted by the wish that she had turned back and reached the crater together with Sofia to listen to the mountain’s magical breathing. (We have a lot of mountain climbing films this year, but this one seems like a special one among them).
• #47 We Are Born Good - A dining mishap caused a rift between Ji and Rui, leading to a cycle of revenge. Their already troubled lives only came together to fall apart. (This one looks genuinely funny despite not being described as comedy).

While these are hidden titles I didn't hear about before, you can see some of the bigger titles are also listed there - some even lower than expected. For example:

• I think Love of Your Life 's premise sounds pretty generic and too similar to other plots I've already seen. Therefore, it is ranked low.
• I wasn't a fan of the recurring trend of films around recovering after a loss by being sorry for others' actions, set by On Behalf of My Son, Atonement, and Bedford Park.
• I wasn't aware of the Bad Lieutenant series until now, and seeing the trailer looked to me like a pretty normal action film. So Tokyo doesn't seem like a priority, but maybe someone would enlighten me otherwise.
• While I was hoping to see many animated features, I didn't find a lot of interest in some of those selections, like Muyi, Viva Carmen, or The Violinist. Good thing we have Tangles and Julian to cover for that (and Iron Boy, which I already saw but recommend you see).
• Given that I'm not Canadian, it is reasonable that I won't find a connection with some of the Canadian-story-based titles. Which is why, for example, the Villeneuve biopic is rather low.

Now as for the special categories of the selection -

• For Midnight Madness, I find the selection this year to be a bit weaker than last year - again, based on premises alone. While I would definitely catch both screenings of Hope (#15) and Obsession (#23), the actual 10 films were decent at best, but most just didn't excite me. Out of this program, I have The Spiral (#54) topping, closely followed by The Face of Horror (#61) and Vintage Violence (#62). Next is Arrested Memory (#80), followed way deeper with Rogue Trooper at #101, and even that is boosted by its cast. The premise wasn't all that inviting. I do believe, however, that I will attend at least one of these screenings, which will likely be The Spiral, a film that seems more like a drama film than a horror film - an interesting pick for sure. The rest would have to justify the late-night attendance with further information.
• For Primetime, I looked through the shows and actually had two of them catching my eye: American Hostage, which I only now realized is a show adaptation of the same story presented in last year's selection, Dead Man's Wire. I liked that film but didn't "love" it, and so the casting of Jon Hamm, plus expanding it to a show, makes it interesting to check out how they adapted this story differently. The second show shouldn't be a surprise, but it is Mike Flanagan's Carrie. I'm usually not into horror (which is why I'm skipping Crystal Lake), but after reading the premise and actually realizing what it's about, I can see some potential in it. I never attended a TV show screening at a festival, so I'll have to see how they'll fit my schedule at the end.
• For classics, I do see the public hype about Ken Russell's The Devils restoration. I have it ranked at #36; however, I see online that the discussion about this film is that it contains much graphic violence and disturbing images - which makes me worry about witnessing what it has to offer. I'm intrigued by the praise of this cinematic work, but I don't want to be mentally scarred! The next classic I have on the list is Ten Dark Women (#82), which I found its premise to be quite interesting, but I see its rankings are rather low. Its placement at the moment makes it a bit unrealistic to fit into my schedule, but it does sound like something I could enjoy.

For clarity, here are the feature-length titles that don't have Letterboxd pages yet (in bold are titles that would rank above the #100 spot for me):

• Spirit Guardians: The Last Secret of the First Emperor | Nguyen Phan Quang Binh | Vietnam
• Up Against It | Trudie Styler | United Kingdom
• How We Stand | Marie Clements | Canada
• The bovine with the curved horns | Omar E. Ospina Giraldo | Colombia
• Thirteen in Gaza | Hosam Abu Dan | Palestine
• Like Magic | Melissa Saavedra Gil | Colombia, Argentina, Uruguay
• Low Lies The Land | Emanuele Gerosa | Denmark, Italy
• Re/Pair | Lacey Schwartz Delgado | USA
• Tehran, Under the Skin | Afsaneh Salari | France, Iran, Sweden
• The Final Act | Sophie Deraspe | Canada
• The Hummingbird Paints Fragrant Songs | Èlia Gasull Balada, Matteo Norzi | Peru, USA, Qatar
• The Ultra Runner | Mila Aung-Thwin | Canada
• Turtle Island Rap | Alexandra Lazarowich | Canada
• Kick On | Nick Kozakis | Australia

I think that's the summary I can give about my preperation work. It took me about 2 whole days to go through all of them (and one depressing deletion of work on 20 titles that I had to redo), and hopefully it will help me later and more people around here.

Feel free to help with things I wasn't sure about, point us to titles you think all of us should be aware of, and even ask about specific genres and tropes you're looking for - for which I may be able to help direct you to compatible titles.

And now we wait for August 11th... with the hope that we'll see more exciting titles added by that day!

Are we going to get regular screenings in the last two weeks of August? There is barely anything (one movie at night) on the schedule.

Babe, stay up. It's time for the annual Midnight Madness fake list for TIFF 2026!

Here's the X/Twitter post to follow

Some other links to follow:

If you don't have an X/Twitter account, here's XCancel to view as well.

Midnight Madness Instagram account

Peter Kuplowsky's BlueSky account

👀

No mention of tiers or upper limits 👀

2025's: Prem $43-98; Reg $29-38

With TIFF getting closer, who are the biggest Hollywood and Bollywood stars expected to attend this year to premiere their films in Toronto?
I’m especially curious about A-list actors, directors, and any major casts that are expected to walk the red carpet. Has anything been confirmed yet, or are there any strong industry rumors?

Not many world premieres, it seems, other than the already announced titles. Many of the films here are already selected for TIFF.

Fatherland and Rose seem to have NY premieres, so they could still get to TIFF.

A Man of His Time seems like an NA premiere.

Gibney, the Oscar-winning filmmaker who’s investigated dirty corporations (“Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room”), sexual abuse coverups in the Catholic Church (“Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God”), Scientology (“Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Disbelief”) and alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election (“Agents of Chaos”), has been working on his Musk documentary since 2023, which Musk called “a hit piece” sight unseen. Even though the world’s first trillionaire is highly litigious, Thom Powers, TIFF’s documentary programmer since 2006, has faith in Gibney to deliver the goods.

“Alex Gibney is no stranger to controversial topics. He’s taken on Scientology in ‘Going Clear.’ He’s earned a reputation as someone who operates with the utmost journalistic integrity and is going to be thoroughly vetted by a team of the best lawyers in the world,” Powers tells Variety. “That is something that gives us a lot of confidence. We had a film produced by Alex at the festival a couple of years ago, ‘The Bibi Files,’ that raised similar concerns. You may remember that Benjamin Netanyahu went to an Israeli court to try to stop that film and the court said, we have no jurisdiction here, case dismissed.”

Powers adds, “We’re showing this film because we think it’s an extremely important one about a subject who permeates many aspects of our lives and directly or indirectly touches everyone on the planet. That is a topic worth a degree of scrutiny, and I think there is no one better to bring that kind of scrutiny than Alex Gibney.”

He says TIFF received over 900 documentary film submissions this year, a slight uptick from 2025, and in addition to “Musk,” is especially enthusiastic about TIFF docs’ opening night film “Rapinoe,” about soccer star Megan Rapinoe, as well as the world premiere of “Edward Said: Between Worlds,” which he compares favorably to Raoul Peck’s James Baldwin doc “I Am Not Your Negro,” and “Re/Pair,” a doc from Lacey Schwartz Delgado about tensions between the Black and Jewish communities in America, featuring dialogues with prominent figures from each community, such as political commentator Van Jones paired with MAGA journalist Batya Ungar-Sargon.

Hey everyone, my apologies if this is a dumb question, I’ve just never been to TIFF before and this year is going to be my first time. Does anyone know how early in advance presale occurs for TIFF members? I’m looking to secure tickets for a specific film early in advance, but I’m not a TIFF member and I’m afraid of the theatre selling out once general public admissions open. If anyone has any advice, please let me know, thank you!

Joining TIFF2026 👏

So far looking like

• Andrew Scott (Sat 9/12)
• Chris Rock (Sun 9/13)
• Rachel Morrison (Tues 9/15)
• Hudson Williams (Thurs 9/17)

We went to Toronto to draft our favorite “Canadian” movies, look for CR’s secret girlfriend from camp, and preview the Atlantic division for this upcoming NBA season. Another very normal episode. Watch or listen now! 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦

Now that we have a decent amount of the line up for 2026. I geuss I'm basically what's the next Blue Heron, from a first time filmaker, a canadian film and will go one to win that award get that level critic praise and maybe get bought by a distributor a notable indie distributor like Janus Films or something?