Toronto Film Festival Unveils Discovery Lineup, Opening with Theo Rhys’ ‘Stuffed’

Toronto International Film Festival unveiled the 2026 Discovery program showcasing emerging filmmakers, which opens with the World Premiere of Theo Rhys’ twisted musical Stuffed.

Love, death, and taxidermy collide in the musical body horror romance film, directed and co-written by the UK’s Theo Rhys (and expanded from his 2021 short of the same name), starring Jodie Comer and Harry Melling.

Also featured in the 2026 Discovery Official Selections are the World Premieres of David Turpin’s Ancestors, a dreamlike 1980s London-set seance exploring the legacy of the AIDS crisis; Drifter, an underdog story marking the directorial debut of Fast & Furious star Sung Kang; Ghasideh Golmakani’s Head to Head, an absurd Iranian satire on state control; Krux, writer-director Ulrike Tony Vahl’s feature length debut, a powerful and stark portrait of moral collapse, societal panic, and the consequences of being on the wrong side of history; Alexandra Pechman’s Magazine, where a young intern gets thrown into the intoxicating power dynamics of a prestigious literary magazine in New York 2011; and Tom Nicoll’s Salvation, a razor-sharp commentary on the seductive promise of online self-improvement culture. Plus, the International Premiere of Voices, a striking Motown-infused 1960s period musical from first-time filmmaker and former NFL player Deantè Gray.

The 51st edition of the Toronto International Film Festival runs September 10–20, 2026.

2026 Discovery program

(in alphabetical order)

A Common Story | Anna Foglietta | Italy
International Premiere

Ancestors | David Turpin | Ireland, United Kingdom
World Premiere

Arne Goes to Space | Lars Vega | Sweden
World Premiere

Bedford Park | Stephanie Ahn | USA
International Premiere

Drifter | Sung Kang | USA
World Premiere

Head to Head | Ghasideh Golmakani | Iran, Germany
World Premiere

I Am Mario | Sharon Kleinberg | Mexico
International Premiere

In Waves | Phuong Mai Nguyen | France, Belgium
International Premiere

Krux | Tony Vahl | Germany, Poland
World Premiere

Magazine | Alexandra Pechman | USA
World Premiere

Memories of a Forest | Katharina Rabl | Germany, Austria
International Premiere

Nosotros | Joaquín Ruano | Guatemala, Mexico
World Premiere

Purgatory | Lindsay Lanzillotta | Canada, USA
World Premiere

Salvation | Tom Nicoll | United Kingdom
World Premiere

Seventeen | Justin Ducharme | Canada
World Premiere

Sisters | Ione Hernández | Spain
World Premiere

Strong Son | Ian Bawa | Canada
World Premiere

Stuffed | Theo Rhys | United Kingdom
World Premiere
Discovery opening film

The Daughters of Abraham | Hanaël El Yousfi | France
International Premiere

The Fortunate Isles | Helena Girón, Samuel Delgado | Spain, Greece
World Premiere

Voices | Deantè Gray | USA
International Premiere

We Are Born Good | Leung Chuen Yeung | Hong Kong
World Premiere

What Lies Between Us | Amalie Næsby Fick | Denmark
World Premiere

Zjili: A Story of Sisterhood and The Burdens of Excess | Christine Boateng, Hajara Musah Chambas | Ghana
World Premiere