Toronto film festival 2026 preview: Screen’s guide to the Platform and Midnight Madness titles

Screen International rounds up the world and international premieres in the Toronto International Film Festival’s Platform and Midnight Madness strands, with details on each title including sales contacts.

TIFF runs September 10-20.

Platform

Angh (India)

Dir. Theja Rio
Set in the remote jungles of Nagaland, India in the early 1960s, Angh centres on the last surviving chief of an abandoned village, who lives in isolation with his ailing wife and mute young son after being deserted by his people. Shot on 16mm film, it marks the feature debut of London-based Rio, originally from Nagaland, and is an expansion of his 2021 short of the same name, which won awards at Palm Springs and Clermont-­Ferrand. Rio also produced alongside Nancy Nisa Beso and Bernardo Angeletti through their respective banners Winter Hymns Films and Undercover Squirrel.
Contact: Winter Hymns Films

Brace Your Heart (Swe-Nor-Den-Ice-Bul)

Dir. Amanda Kernell
Kernell’s Sámi heritage — the Indigenous people of northern Europe — continues to inspire her filmmaking. Her third feature follows Ejva, a reindeer herder in a remote Sámi village in the Swedish mountains. She is pursued by the herd leader, but finds true love with his cousin, leading to a jealous reaction that threatens her livelihood. Kernell’s debut Sami Blood played in Toronto’s Discovery strand in 2016 after a Venice Giornate degli Autori world premiere, while 2020’s Charter started at Sundance and became Sweden’s Oscar entry.
Contact: TrustNordisk

Children Untold (Japan)

Dir. Miwa Nishikawa
Set in the final days and aftermath of the Second World War, this drama centres on an orphaned 12-year-old girl who disguises herself as a boy to survive, and her former teacher (Fumi Nikaido from A Pale View Of Hills and Shōgun) who tries to track her down. Nishikawa, who also wrote the screenplay, has worked as an assistant director for Hirokazu Koreeda and most recently directed 2020 TIFF premiere Under The Open Sky. Children Untold opens this year’s Platform. It is produced by Daiju Koide at K2 Pictures and will receive a local release on October 16.
Contact: Intramovies

Djinn Wedding (Turkey)

Dir. Ferit Karahan
In his first feature since 2021 festival favourite Brother’s Keeper, Istanbul-­based Kurdish director Karahan draws on folklore to deal with broader social and family tensions as four estranged siblings return to a remote Anatolian village for their sister’s wedding. The film was supported by Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry’s General Directorate of Cinema.
Contact: Luxbox Films

Idda (It)

Dir. Irene Dionisio
Visual artist and documentarist Dionisio presented her first narrative feature Pawn Streets in Venice’s Critics’ Week sidebar in 2016. Ten years later, her follow-up is the story of a hike on Mount Etna (‘Idda’ or ‘She’ in Sicilian dialect) that becomes a voyage of self-discovery for two female friends played by rising stars Tecla Insolia (Prima­vera) and Romana Maggiora Vergano (There’s Still Tomorrow). Giovanni Pompili’s Kino Produzioni produced with Rai Cinema, Andromeda Film and EDI Effetti Digitali Italiani in collaboration with Wise Pictures.
Contact: Fulvio Firrito, Rai Cinema International Distribution

In The Heart Of The South (Can)

Dir. Nyla Innuksuk
Anna Lambe from HBO’s True Detective: Night Country and Zorga Qaunaq, her co-star from Net­flix comedy series North Of North, lead this comedy thriller about an Inuk artist whose life is turned upside down when a long-forgotten friend reappears. Production on the Sphere Media and The Mixtape VR feature took place in summer 2025 in Hamilton, Ontario with the support of streaming platform Crave and CBC Films, and backing from Indigenous Screen Office, Telefilm Canada, Ontario Creates. Jennifer Kawaja and Laura Perlmutter of Sphere Media served as producers and Elevation Pictures holds Canadian rights.
Contact: Laura Perlmutter, Sphere Media 

Masc (UK)

Dir. Bertil Nilsson
A young man’s desperate attempt to fit in while caught between multi­ple identities — autistic, biracial, queer — is explored in the feature debut of UK Swedish writer/­director Nilsson, who produces through his outfit Duktiga and co-wrote the script with Joshua Griffin. The cast includes Griffin, Tega Alexander and Ed White. Masc took part in the 2026 BFI and British Council’s Cannes Great 8 showcase, while Nilsson’s first fiction short Repair played at Clermont-Ferrand and BFI Flare in 2023 and was acquired by Disney+ and Canal+.
Contact: Duktiga

On Behalf Of My Son (Braz)

Dir. Gabriel Martins
Martins presents his second feature film as a solo director after Mars One (2022), which premiered at Sundance and represented Brazil in the Oscar race for best international feature. On Behalf Of My Son tells the story of a 75-year-old retired teacher (Rejane Faria) who seeks out the families of those killed in a bus accident caused by her son in Belo Horizonte. This is a production of Filmes de Plastico, co-founded by Martins, in partnership with Netflix.
Contact: Netflix

Silenced Nights (Phil)

Dir. Lawrence Fajardo
This sociopolitical drama marks the first Filipino film selected for Platform. Troy Espiritu’s screenplay follows a labourer who witnesses the police execute a teenage boy during a brutal anti-drugs operation, with a cast including Lotlot De Leon, Ina Feleo and Nico Antonio. It is produced by the Philippines’ Quantum Films and Paris-based House On Fire with veteran Joji Alonso as the lead producer. Fajardo is a seasoned film and TV director with credits including TIFF 2015 title Invisible.
Contact: Quantum Films 

The Smell Of Apples (S Afr-Neth-Chile)

Dir. John Trengove
In 1974 South Africa, 11-year-old Marnus’s summer holiday is derailed when he accuses a worker’s grandson of theft, setting off a chain of events that breaks down his family’s wholesome facade. After US-UK title Manodrome starring Jesse Eisenberg, Trengove returns to his homeland for his fourth feature with this adaptation of Mark Behr’s 1993 novel, which considers the horrors of the apartheid system. Production companies include South Africa’s Cadence, the Netherlands’ Baldr, Chile’s Quijote Films and the UK’s Portobello Productions.
Contact: Cercamon

Wild Wild East (Pol)

Dir. Jan Holoubek
This wartime thriller is set in a seemingly sleepy Polish town, where the arrival of a Nazi official to investigate a missing Jewish lawyer causes immediate upheaval. Polish director Holoubek, whose international following is built on Netflix series The Mire, High Water and Heweliusz, works with some of the cream of the Polish industry, including Cold War star Joanna Kulig and The Zone Of Interest producer Ewa Puszczynska. Warner Bros will release in Poland and backers include TVN Warner Bros Discovery and the Polish Film Institute.
Contact: Global Constellation 

The World Before (S Kor)

Dir. Yoon Dan-bi
This coming-of-age film set on a remote island follows two childhood friends who reunite as teens following a family funeral. It marks the second feature of director Yoon, whose 2019 debut Moving On won awards at Busan and Rotterdam. The cast is led by Sim Su-bin (En Route To) and Kim Eo-jin (Fragile), and a local release is planned for 2027. It is the second Korean feature selected to play in the Platform competition following Yoon Ga-eun’s The World Of Love last year.
Contact: PanPare 

Midnight Madness

Anchors Aweigh (US)

Dir. Matt Barats
Barats’ follow-up to 2023 Slamdance documentary Cash Cow sees the writer/director portray a jilted lover who moves into a sailboat moored by an airport and spirals into a state of deep reflection. Producers Allie Viti and Whit Conway are frequent collaborators with stylistically similar comedians John Wilson and Joe Pera. The production from Abso Lutely Productions, Cartuna, Mongoose Picture House and Bronxburgh shot in New York.
Contact: Range Select

The Face Of Horror (UK)

Dir. Anna Biller
Jonah Hauer-King, Kristine Froseth, Ellie Bamber, Leo Suter and Bella Heathcote star in the first film from Biller since 2016 Rotterdam premiere The Love Witch. Shot in Prague, The Face Of Horror unspools in England during the Middle Ages, as a knight marries his longtime love only to grow bored of her and court a wealthy noblewoman, compelling his wife to seek vengeance. It is inspired by the Japanese ghost story Yotsuya Kaidan. Biller produces alongside Good Chaos’s Mike Goodridge and James Bowsher. WME is co-repping North America.
Contact: Embankment Films (international)

Half (India)

Dir. Samjad
Twin half-blood vampires wage war against desert highway hijackers in this gory martial arts Indian western. The cast is led by Ranjith Sajeev and action choreo­graphy is by Very Tri Yulisman of The Raid 2. It marks the second feature of director Samjad after 2024’s Golam. Produced by Kerala-based Fragrant Nature Film Creations, the Malayalam-language film will be distributed across North India in Hindi by Excel Entertainment in association with AA Films.
Contact: Best Friend Forever

Kick On (Australia)

Dir. Nick Kozakis
This action horror follows four friends on a drug-fuelled night of partying who plunge into a fight for survival after crossing the volatile son of a mobster. The cast is led by Markella Kavenagh, Nikolai Nikolaeff, Ras-­Samuel and Jacek Koman. Director Kozakis is known for Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism, which won an audience award at Sitges in 2023. It marks the first feature of Australia’s Fableist Films. Umbrella Entertainment has rights for Australia and New Zealand.
Contact: Blue Finch Films

Ladies And Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney (Can)

Dir. Matthew Rankin
This National Film Board of Canada production charts the rise of the Canadian prime minster who led the Progressive Conservative party in the 1980s, strengthened ties with the US, and was accused of accepting bribes from an air industry lobbyist. Rankin, last at TIFF in 2024 with Universal Language, takes a satirical approach as he remixes and reimagines archival footage in his chronicle of the country’s 18th premier.
Contact: Nathalie Bourdon, National Film Board of Canada

River (US)

Dir. Joshua Giuliano
Contemporary ‘scream queens’ Jane Levy from Don’t Breathe and Jessica Rothe from Happy Death Day star alongside Dane DiLiegro and Max Mattern in this Shudder Original title, which opens Midnight Madness. Giuliano’s feature directorial debut follows three estranged siblings who are stalked by a killer while on a river trip to scatter their father’s ashes. Steven Schneider from the Insidious franchise produced for Spooky Pictures with Nick Antosca and Alex Hedlund. Independent Film Company and Shudder will release in the US.
Contact: Upgrade

Vintage Violence (US-Japan)

Dir. Eugene Kotlyarenko
Ukrainian-US filmmaker Kotlyarenko follows up 2024 Fantasia selection The Code with the story of a disgraced live­streamer who faces off with the Yakuza and a past that refuses to stay buried. When the man discovers a trove of valuable vintage denim in a Colorado mine, he follows the thread to Tokyo and becomes involved with a woman who could be manipulating him. Filming on Vintage Violence took place in Japan and the US in 2025, and Cole Sprouse and Kiko Mizuhara star in the Spacemaker Productions, Barravento and Mam Film feature.
Contact: WME International 

Profiles by: Ellie Calnan, Ben Dalton, Elaine Guerini, John Hazelton, Jeremy Kay, Geoffrey Macnab, Lee Marshall, Thea Middleton, Cecilia Neri, David Opie, Michael Rosser, Matt Schley, Mona Tabbara, Silvia Wong

• The lowdown on the 2026 Toronto lineup