The 51st edition of the Toronto International Film Festival will feature a selection of some of Italy’s best cinema.
September 10 to September 20, 2026
The Italian selections at the 2026 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival are presented with the support of the Istituto Italiano di Cultura Toronto.
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
High-profile premieres and the world’s leading filmmakers.
It Will Happen Tonight
Succederà questa notte
Nanni Moretti
International Premiere | Italy, France, Spain | 2026 | 109m | Italian, English, Spanish
Louis Garrel (TIFF ’25’s Couture) leads a charming ensemble in this decades-spanning divine dramady from Nanni Moretti (TIFF ’01’s The Son’s Room) that will restore your faith in destiny and the wild logic of the heart.
Wednesday, September 16 | 2:45PM
TIFF Lightbox
Thursday, September 17 | 6:10PM
Scotiabank Theatre
Saturday, September 19 | 8:15PM
Scotiabank Theatre
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PLATFORM
Directors’ cinema now.
Idda
Irene Dionisio
World Premiere | Italy | 2026 | 89m | Italian
When two childhood friends meet after years to fulfill the broken promise of climbing Mount Etna, Adele and Sofia realize that like the mountain, old wounds loom over everything.
Friday, September 11 | 9:15PM
TIFF Lightbox
Saturday, September 12 | 11:45AM
TIFF Lightbox
Friday, September 18 | 6:25PM
Scotiabank Theatre
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CENTREPIECE
Compelling stories, global perspectives.
The City of the Living
La città dei vivi
Edoardo Gabbriellini
International Premiere | Italy | 2026 | 103m | Italian
The City of the Living is Edoardo Gabbriellini’s (Holiday, TIFF ’23) gripping yet respectful anti-true crime film based on Nicola Lagioia’s bestselling literary chronicle about the senseless 2016 murder of a young man that rocked Rome.
Sunday, September 13 | 3:00PM
Scotiabank Theatre
Tuesday, September 15 | 9:40PM
Scotiabank Theatre
Friday, September 18 | 12:00PM
Scotiabank Theatre
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DISCOVERY PROGRAMME
Directors to watch. The future of world cinema.
A Common Story
Anna Foglietta
International Premiere | Italy | 2026 | 107m | Italian
Starring Alba Rohrwacher (Three Goodbyes, TIFF ’25) and Guido Caprino, writer-director Anna Foglietta’s heartfelt debut feature follows nascent empty nesters who encounter old desires while seeking new meaning in their lives.
Monday, September 14 | 5:30PM
Scotiabank Theatre
Wednesday, September 16 | 9:15PM
Scotiabank Theatre
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MIDNIGHT MADNESS PROGRAMME
The wild side: screenings of the best in action, horror, shock and fantasy cinema.
The Spiral
L’estranea
Paolo Strippoli
International Premiere | Italy, France, Belgium | 2026 | 115m | Italian
Director Paolo Strippoli turns the screws on a desperate mother (Jasmine Trinca) as she confesses a series of Faustian bargains to her estranged daughter (Romana Maggiora Vergano) in this riveting morality chiller.
Sunday, September 13 | 11:59PM
Royal Alexandra Theatre
Tuesday, September 15 | 9:20PM
Scotiabank Theatre
Thursday, September 17 | 6:30PM
TIFF Lightbox
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WAVELENGTHS PROGRAMME
Daring, visionary, and autonomous voices. Film art in the cinema and beyond.
Wavelengths 3: Time and Tide
Please note the Italian short film selection in this programme is part of the larger WAVELENGTHS PROGRAMME screening*
Electric Fragments No. 1 – Rom (Men)
Frammenti Elettrici No. 1 – Rom (Uomini)
Yervant Gianikian, Angela Ricci Lucchi
Italy | 2001 | 14m | Italian
As part of this Wavelengths collection of short films, we pay homage to the recently departed Armenian-Italian artist Yervant Gianikian, whose work with Angela Ricci Lucchi offered an invaluable contribution to world cinema writ large, and to the history of Wavelengths in particular. In their 2001 piece, Electric Fragments No. 1 – Rom (Men), 8mm footage documenting a Roma family’s migration across Italy trades a cold ethnographic regard for one of pathos.
Tuesday, September 15 | 12:00PM
TIFF Lightbox
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*Playing as part of this programme during the screening are: Forever…Forever | La Prospettiva (1653) | Fevers
Content advisory: extreme strobing