TIFF’s Winners, and When to See Them

TIFF's 2026 winners are reaching Canadian screens on very different schedules: here is when each one arrives, and which still have no date.

By Catherine Crowe October 10, 2026 5 min read

Photo: Netflix

Trailer: I Play Rocky. Cast, where to watch and more on the title page.

The Toronto International Film Festival handed out its 2026 awards on 20 Sept, and its winners are now heading to Canadian screens on very different timetables. One opens in Toronto in two weeks. Several have no Canadian release at all yet. Here is where each one stands as of 9 Oct.

The People’s Choice podium

La Bola Negra, Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi’s Spanish epic, won the People’s Choice Award, which is voted on by TIFF’s public audience. Netflix, which is releasing it, describes the film as an intimate portrait of three generations of men in 1932, 1937 and 2017 Spain, with Penélope Cruz and Glenn Close in the cast. It runs two hours and 40 minutes.

Netflix is giving it a proper theatrical run first. According to Netflix, it opens in Toronto on 23 Oct at TIFF Lightbox and the Varsity, with special 35mm screenings at the Lightbox. Vancouver gets it on 30 Oct at the VIFF Vancity Theatre, also with 35mm screenings. Montreal opens the same day at the Cinéma Cineplex Forum and the Cinéma du Parc. Windsor follows on 6 Nov at the Capitol Theatre, home of the Windsor International Film Festival. The film arrives on Netflix on 2 Dec.

The first runner-up, Peter Farrelly’s I Play Rocky, follows a young, unknown Sylvester Stallone as he fights to make Rocky and star in it. Amazon MGM Studios says it opens in select theatres on 6 Nov and in theatres everywhere later in November. A 13 Nov date has been reported elsewhere; the studio has not confirmed it, and it has not named Canadian cities. Anthony Ippolito plays Stallone, with Matt Dillon and Stephan James in the cast.

Second runner-up Being Heumann, Siân Heder’s drama about Judy Heumann, was TIFF’s opening night film. Ruth Madeley stars opposite Mark Ruffalo, and the story centres on the 1977 occupation of a US federal building. Apple lists select theatres from 6 Nov and a streaming premiere on Apple TV on 13 Nov. The streaming date is the one to circle: Apple has not said which Canadian cinemas, if any, will play it.

International, documentary and Midnight Madness

Simon Stone’s Elsinore won the International People’s Choice Award, ahead of Lee Chang-dong’s Possible Love and Hur Jin-ho’s The Assassin(s). Focus Features lists it in select theatres from 20 Nov. Focus has not named Canadian cities, so treat that date as provisional here.

Barry Avrich’s Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been took the People’s Choice Documentary Award, with Black Sunflowers and The Ultra Runner as runners-up. No Canadian release has been announced.

The People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award went to Matthew Rankin’s Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney, a National Film Board of Canada production. The NFB describes it as tracing Mulroney’s rise to power through 1970s and 1980s Canadian television, pop culture and political mythmaking. Its next public stop is RIDM, Montreal’s documentary festival, from 19 to 29 Nov. The NFB lists a theatrical release as “coming this winter”, without a date. Rankin is a repeat TIFF winner: his Universal Language took the Best Canadian Discovery Award in 2024.

The juried prizes

Angh, Theja Rio’s film from India, won the Platform Prize, the festival’s only juried programme, worth $20,000. The jury, led by Pablo Trapero, praised its “deeply resonant portrait of a world”. New this year, TIFF says, the Platform Prize gives a non-English-language winner direct eligibility for Best International Feature Film at the Academy Awards. No Canadian release has been announced.

Serville Poblete’s Sunburn won the Best Canadian Feature Film Award. The jury singled out the fresh energy it brings to Toronto and its ensemble of characters. No release has been announced.

Cody Lightning’s Smudge the Blades won the Best Canadian Discovery Award, given to a first or second feature. The jury called it a sophomore feature about family, ambition and community, rooted in Indigenous joy and resilience. No release has been announced.

The FIPRESCI Prize, chosen by an international critics’ jury from debut features in the Discovery programme, went to David Turpin’s Ancestors, from Ireland and the United Kingdom. Samson Films, one of its producers, lists Rupert Everett and Christina Hendricks in the cast. No Canadian release has been announced.

Among the short film prizes, Michael Del Monte’s Fight Kid won Best Canadian Short Film. The NETPAC Award went to Hosam Abu Dan’s Thirteen in Gaza.

Where to watch

La Bola Negra · In theatres · CA · Toronto 23 Oct (TIFF Lightbox, the Varsity); Vancouver and Montreal 30 Oct; Windsor 6 Nov
La Bola Negra · Netflix · CA · 2 Dec
I Play Rocky · In theatres · Amazon MGM Studios says select theatres 6 Nov, wider later in November · Canadian cities not announced
Being Heumann · Apple TV · CA · 13 Nov (select theatres from 6 Nov, Canadian cities not announced)
Elsinore · In theatres · Focus Features lists select theatres from 20 Nov · Canadian cities not announced
Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney · RIDM, Montreal · 19 to 29 Nov; NFB theatrical release “this winter”, no date yet
Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been · No Canadian release announced yet
Angh · No Canadian release announced yet
Sunburn · No Canadian release announced yet
Smudge the Blades · No Canadian release announced yet
Ancestors · No Canadian release announced yet