'Stuffed'

Source: Toronto Film Festival

‘Stuffed’

Stuffed, the debut feature from UK director Theo Rhys, a Wales-set musical starring Jodie Comer and Harry Melling, and David Turpin’s Ancestors, an Ireland-UK coproduction exploring the legacy of the AIDS crisis in 1980s London, are among the 24 films from emerging global filmmakers selected for the Discovery programme at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

The lineup also includes Tom Nicoll’s Salvation, a UK project set in the world of male self-improvement culture. 

Both Ancestors and Salvation were part of the Great 8 showcase, backed by the British Council and the BFI, at this year’s Cannes. 

Other Discovery world premieres include US underdog story Drifter, directed by Fast & Furious franchise star Sung Kang; Ghasideh Golmakani’s Head To Head, an Iranian satire about state control; Krux, a Second World War drama set in Germany, from writer-director Ulrike Tony Vahl; and Alexandra Pechman’s Magazine, about a young intern at a prestigious New York literary magazine. 

TIFF 2026 runs from September 10-20.

Discovery

(world premiere unless specified)

Ancestors (Ire-UK) dir. David Turpin

Arne Goes To Space (Swe) dir. Lars Vega

Bedford Park (US) dir. Stephanie Ahn – international premiere

A Common Story (It) dir. Anna Foglietta – international premiere

The Daughters Of Abraham (Fr) dir. Hanaël El Yousfi – international premiere

Drifter (US) dir. Sung Kang

The Fortunate Isles (Sp-Greece) dirs. Helena Girón, Samuel Delgado

Head To Head (Iran-Ger) dir. Ghasideh Golmakani

I Am Mario (Mex) dir. Sharon Kleinberg – international premiere

In Waves (Fr-Belg) dir. Phuong Mai Nguyen – international premiere

Krux (Ger-Pol) dir. Tony Vahl

Magazine (US) dir. Alexandra Pechman

Memories Of A Forest (Ger-Austria) dir. Katharina Rabl – international premiere

Nosotros (Guat-Mex) dir. Joaquín Ruano

Purgatory (Can-US) dir. Lindsay Lanzillotta

Salvation (UK) dir. Tom Nicoll

Seventeen (Can) dir. Justin Ducharme

Sisters (Sp) dir. Ione Hernández

Strong Son (Can) dir. Ian Bawa

Stuffed (UK) dir. Theo Rhys – opening film 

Voices (US) dir. Deantè Gray – international premiere

We Are Born Good (HK) dir. Leung Chuen Yeung

What Lies Between Us (Den) dir. Amalie Næsby Fick

Zjili: A Story Of Sisterhood And The Burdens Of Excess (Ghana) dirs. Christine Boateng, Hajara Musah Chambas 

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