Jodie Comer and Harry Melling Taxidermy Musical ‘Stuffed’ Leads TIFF Discovery Lineup of Rising Filmmakers

The Toronto International Film Festival (September 10-20) continues its rollout of announcements this week, with the Platform section, galas, special presentations, and opening night already in place. Next up: The 2026 Discovery program, showcasing a selection of up-and-coming filmmakers from around the world. The curation of these 24 features is intended to highlight the best emerging voices out of TIFF this year. Following up last year’s smash-hit opening of John Early’s comedy “Maddie’s Secret” comes another genre-bending film: the world premiere of “Stuffed,” directed and co-written by British import Theo Rhys. The “gloriously twisted musical,” per the festival, stars Jodie Comer and Harry Melling “in the year’s most original, hilarious, and unexpectedly heartfelt romance, where love, death, and taxidermy collide.” Yes; taxidermy. In years past, the Discovery section has helped introduce such filmmakers as Alfonso Cuarón, Ildikó Enyedi, Christopher Nolan, Lav Diaz, Dea Kulumbegashvili, Elegance Bratton, and Durga Chew-Bose. Other highlights include “Ancestors,” a 1980s London-set exploration of the AIDS crsis from David Turpin; “Drifter,” the directorial debut of “Fast & Furious” star Sung Kang; Iranian satire “Head to Head,” from Ghasideh Golmakani; Ulrike Tony Vahl’s moral panic portrait “Krux”; Alexandra Pechman’s “Magazine,” about a young intern thrown into toxic power dynamics at a New York literary publication; the 1960s Motown-infused period musical “Voices” from first-time filmmaker and former NFL player Deantè Gray; and Tom Nicoll’s “Salvation,” a commentary on online self-improvement culture. Fresh from Cannes is the animated “In Waves,” while TIFF brings “Bedford Park” to Toronto from Sundance. The full list of titles is below. “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’Courtesy TIFF “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