The Toronto International Film Festival, presented by Rogers, is announcing its 2026 Short Cuts program. This year’sselection includes 45 short films from 30 countries across seven curated programs, spanning live-action narrative, documentary, animation, and hybrid filmmaking.
Entering its third year, Strange Cuts — the Midnight Madness–adjacent wild child of the Short Cuts program — embraces genre- and mind-benders from bizarre animation and eccentric comedies to culturally distinct horror and downright disturbing dramatic work. Highlights include “MAMMALIA” from Elia Kalogianni, a visually stunning study of pathological depravity, and Quebec-based Daniel «Tètèl» Chérubin’s mood-driven horror “Koden’n,” rooted in inherited spiritual traditions.
Among this year’s World Premieres are Camille Summers-Valli’s meticulously composed character study starring Julianne Nicholson and Charles Melton, “Untitled Woman;” Fala Chen’s spine-chilling “Bloodline,” produced by Colin Farrell; Michael Del Monte’s astute and emotionally layered “Fight Kid,” executive produced by Derek Cianfrance; and Academy Award–nominated director Shaunak Sen’s quiet, evocative drama starring Faisal Malik and Vipin Sharma, “Termite.”
Additional standouts include “The Spectacular Death of Prisca,” a love letter to Nollywood from TIFF Filmmaker Labs 2025 alum Kaelo Iyizoba; and Ophelia Harutyunyan’s first TIFF appearance with the unforgettable sibling drama “Fried Chicken & Strip Checkers.”
With TIFF’s Best Animated Short Film Award in its second year, the program features eight animated shorts, including Niki Lindroth von Bahr’s latest stop-motion animated comedy, “The End,” executive produced by and starring Noomi Rapace, with a starry cast led by Denis Lavant and Alexander Skarsgård. Stellan Skarsgård stars in the Annecy award-winning stop motion “Please” from Anna Mantzaris. Another highlight in the animation lineup is the World Premiere of “The Day I Smoked a Cigarette with my Father,” co-directed by Sameh Alaa (2020 Cannes Short Film Palme d’Orwinner) and Robin Vouters.
Canadian films make up 20 of Short Cuts’ 45 selections, reflecting the breadth of Canadian filmmaking across the Festival’s programming. Films are rooted both in local communities and in stories tracing filmmakers’ roots across borders. One of Canada’s most prominent voices in documentary cinema, Yung Chang (“This is Not a Movie,” TIFF ’19) makes his fiction debut with the World Premiere of “The Highway.” Canadian wit is also on full display, with standout comedies from homegrown filmmakers including Cannes Critics’ Week award-winner “Skinny Bottines” from Romain F. Dubois; rom-com “The Lion Does Not Concern Himself” from Zarrar Kahn (“In Flames,” TIFF ’23, Pakistan’s entry to the Oscars); Logan Graham Greene’s boisterous and sharply scripted “The Episode;” Christian Smith’s dark comedy “Fivehead,” anchored by Maddy Foley’s singular writing and performance; and Shamier Anderson’s directorial debut, the mockumentary “Call Me Tim.”
Featuring both emerging and established talent, Short Cuts has introduced TIFF audiences to some of the world’s most acclaimed filmmakers, including recent breakout talents Charlotte Wells, Luis De Filippis, Matthew Rankin, Fawzia Mirza, Nora El Hourch, and Sophy Romvari, whose feature-length film debut “Blue Heron” won TIFF’s Best Canadian Discovery Award last year.
Films in the Short Cuts program are eligible for three jury-selected Short Cuts Awards: Best International Short Film, Best Canadian Short Film, and Best Animated Short Film. These awards provide each winner with a bursary of $10,000 CAD. This year’s jury: Joecar Hanna, Chris Lavis, and Iris Ng.
Short Cuts is programmed by Sonja Baksa and Mariam Zaidi.
2026 TIFF Short Cuts program
Short Cuts Program 01
Skinny Bottines | Romain F. Dubois | Canada
North American Premiere
Untitled Woman | Camille Summers-Valli | United Kingdom, USA
World Premiere
When the Ground Paused | Jess Barclay Lawton | Australia
International Premiere
The End | Niki Lindroth von Bahr | Sweden, France, Denmark
North American Premiere
The Highway | Yung Chang | Canada, China
World Premiere
Fried Chicken & Strip Checkers | Ophelia Harutyunyan | Armenia, France
World Premiere
Short Cuts Program 02
Leftover Women | Atalanta Swire | United Kingdom
World Premiere
The Comet | Julie Charette | Canada
North American Premiere
Forgotten Spaceman | Elham Ehsas | Afghanistan, United Kingdom
North American Premiere
Between Late April and Early May | Sophia Smith | Canada
World Premiere
Termite | Shaunak Sen | India
World Premiere
The Lion Does Not Concern Himself | Zarrar Kahn | Canada
World Premiere
Short Cuts Program 03
A Tenderness | Sabrine Khoury | Netherlands, Palestine
World Premiere
Dough Man | Brittney Gavin, Amy Mielke | Canada
World Premiere
Fight Kid | Michael Del Monte | Canada
World Premiere
Terminal | Alexandre Siqueira | Portugal, Spain, France
World Premiere
Under the Same Clouds | Jérémi Roy | Canada
World Premiere
Patronymic | Mariia Ponomarova | Netherlands, Ukraine
World Premiere
The Episode | Logan Graham Greene | Canada
World Premiere
Short Cuts Program 04
El Aumento | Maria Belen Poncio | Argentina, USA
World Premiere
BID16 | Mick Robertson, Margaret Rose | Canada
World Premiere
Beans and Belief | Tenzin Sedon | USA, Canada, China
World Premiere
Yek Rooz-e Shirin | Omid Abdollahi | Iran
North American Premiere
(Haboolm Ksinaalgat) Soul Catcher | Amanda Strong, Pamela Post | Canada
World Premiere
Fivehead | Christian Smith | Canada
World Premiere
Short Cuts Program 05
Bloodline | Fala Chen | USA
World Premiere
Driftwood | A.C. Birch | Canada
World Premiere
Till The Milk Runs Dry | Kalainithan Kalaichelvan | Canada
World Premiere
Almost Pink | Justine Prince | Canada
World Premiere
2:Love | Ronni Shalev | Belgium, France, Israel
World Premiere
Buddies | Fraser Wolfe | Canada
World Premiere
The Spectacular Death of Prisca | Kaelo Iyizoba | Nigeria
World Premiere
Short Cuts Program 06
Aman | Rahul Roye | India, United Kingdom, USA, France
World Premiere
The Day I Smoked a Cigarette with my Father | Sameh Alaa, Robin Vouters | France, Egypt, Belgium
World Premiere
Call Me Tim | Shamier Anderson | Canada
World Premiere
Pacific Spirit | Antoine Bourges | Canada
World Premiere
Imichki | Yza Nouiga | Canada
World Premiere
Please | Anna Mantzaris | Sweden, France, Czech Republic, Norway, Finland
North American Premiere
Moongirl | Victor Boccard | Japan
World Premiere
Strange Cuts
Melk | Filip Anthonissen | Belgium
North American Premiere
Koden’n | Daniel «Tètèl» Chérubin | Canada
World Premiere
MAMMALIA | Elia Kalogianni | Greece, Netherlands
World Premiere
Into The Betaverse | Varun Raman, Tom Hancock | United Kingdom
World Premiere
Madrugada | Sebastián Lojo | Guatemala
North American Premiere
The Dream Is A Snail | Thien An Nguyen | Vietnam, South Korea
North American Premiere
2026 Short Cuts Jury
Joecar Hanna
Joecar Hanna is a Chinese-Lebanese filmmaker from Spain. His shorts have premiered at TIFF, Cannes, SXSW, and numerous other prestigious festivals. “Talk Me,” executive produced by Spike Lee, won Best International Short Film at TIFF 2025 and Best Short at Málaga 2026. He also starred in Alexandre Rockwell’s “Lump.” Hanna is an NYU Graduate Film alumnus, Ang Lee Scholar, Sony Pictures Classics Marcie Bloom Fellow, and resident of the 51st session of the Cannes Residency (2026). His debut feature, “Deliver Me,” begins production in fall 2026.
Chris Lavis
Chris Lavis is an Academy Award–winning director. His first film with longtime collaborator Maciek Szczerbowski, “Madame Tutli-Putli” (TIFF ’07), was nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Short. The duo went on to adapt Maurice Sendak’s “Higglety Pigglety Pop!” starring Meryl Streep. They were nominated for Best Art Direction at the Canadian Screen Awards for Guy Maddin’s “The Forbidden Room” (TIFF ’15). In 2019, they created “Gymnasia,” which won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Immersive Experience. Lavis and Szczerbowski’s latest film, “The Girl Who Cried Pearls,” won Best Canadian Short Film at TIFF 2025 and the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film in 2026.
Iris Ng
Iris Ng is an award-winning cinematographer known for work that focuses on human rights, marginalized narratives, and auteur perspectives. Her close collaborations with directors on critically acclaimed documentaries, scripted films, TV, digital series, and films for contemporary artists include the Oscar-shortlisted films “Stories We Tell” (dir. Sarah Polley, TIFF ’12) and “Shirkers” (dir. Sandi Tan, 2018), and more recently “Twice Colonized” (dir. Lin Alluna, 2023) and “The Last of the Sea Women” (dir. Sue Kim, TIFF ’24).
The 51st edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, presented by Rogers, runs September 10th–20th, 2026.
Previously announced:
Galas And Special Presentations Lineup
Platform Programming & Jury
Discovery
Tributes
Centerpiece
Docs
Upcoming announcements:
TIFF Takeover 2: August 4th–6th
Thu., Aug. 6: Midnight Madness
Dan Bayer, Nadia Dalimonte, Giovanni Lago, Sara Clements, and I will be attending this year’s TIFF from Next Best Picture in person.
Are you excited for these announcements? What other films do you think will be announced for this year’s Toronto International Film Festival? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section below or on our X account.
