Musicals, Period Pieces and Body Horror Join Discovery Section at Toronto Film Festival

The twisted musical “Stuffed,” the Iranian political satire “Head to Head” and the Sundance hit “Bedford Park” have joined the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival lineup as part of the Discovery program, TIFF organizers announced on Wednesday. The section will open with “Stuffed,” a body-horror musical directed by Theo Rhys and starring Jodie Comer as a taxidermist and Harry Melling as a man who volunteers to be her subject. Other Discovery films include David Turpin’s “Ancestors,” which explores the AIDS crisis in 1980s London; Iranian filmmaker Ghasideh Golmakani’s satiric “Head to Head”; Stephanie Ahn’s “Bedford Park,” which premiered at Sundance and will be released in the U.S. by Sony Pictures Classics; Phuong Mai Nguyen’s “In Waves,” which premiered in Cannes’ Critics’ Week sidebar and “Voices,” a 1960s period musical set in Detroit and directed by former college football player Deantè Gray, who was signed by the Houston Texans of the NFL but injured before what would have been his first season. The Discovery section, which was established in the 1980s to spotlight early works from up-and-coming filmmakers, will consist of 24 films, 17 of them world premieres and seven international premieres. Recent Discovery bookings include John Early’s “Maddie’s Secret,” Durga Chew-Bose’s “Bonjour Tristesse,” Patricia Arquette’s “Gonzo Girl,” Molly Manning Walker’s “How to Have Sex” and Benjamin Millepied’s “Carmen,” while in the past its selections included the debut films of Alfonso Cuarón and Christopher Nolan, “Love in the Time of Hysteria” and “Following,” respectively. The 2026 Toronto International Film Festival will take place from Sept. 10-20. Additional programming will be announced in late July and early August. Here is the lineup of the Discovery section: “A Common Story” | Anna Foglietta | ItalyInternational Premiere “Ancestors” | David Turpin | Ireland, United KingdomWorld Premiere “Arne Goes to Space” | Lars Vega | SwedenWorld Premiere “Bedford Park” | Stephanie Ahn | USAInternational Premiere “Drifter” | Sung Kang | USAWorld Premiere “Head to Head” | Ghasideh Golmakani | Iran, GermanyWorld Premiere “I Am Mario” | Sharon Kleinberg | MexicoInternational Premiere “In Waves” | Phuong Mai Nguyen | France, BelgiumInternational Premiere “Krux” | Tony Vahl | Germany, PolandWorld Premiere “Magazine” | Alexandra Pechman | USAWorld Premiere “Memories of a Forest” | Katharina Rabl | Germany, AustriaInternational Premiere “Nosotros” | Joaquín Ruano | Guatemala, MexicoWorld Premiere “Purgatory” | Lindsay Lanzillotta | Canada, USAWorld Premiere “Salvation” | Tom Nicoll | United KingdomWorld Premiere “Seventeen” | Justin Ducharme | CanadaWorld Premiere “Sisters” | Ione Hernández | SpainWorld Premiere “Strong Son” | Ian Bawa | CanadaWorld Premiere “Stuffed” | Theo Rhys | United KingdomWorld Premiere (Discovery opening film) “The Daughters of Abraham” | Hanaël El Yousfi | FranceInternational Premiere “The Fortunate Isles” | Helena Girón, Samuel Delgado | Spain, GreeceWorld Premiere “Voices” | Deantè Gray | USAInternational Premiere “We Are Born Good” | Leung Chuen Yeung | Hong KongWorld Premiere “What Lies Between Us” | Amalie Næsby Fick | DenmarkWorld Premiere “Zjili: A Story of Sisterhood and The Burdens of Excess” | Christine Boateng, Hajara Musah Chambas | GhanaWorld Premiere