Toronto opens on September 10 with a market, Busan qualifies for the Oscars, Venice closes on the 12th

Three festivals, three different functions: one closes, one opens with a new commercial structure, one changes its status within the awards circuit.

Toronto: the festival also becomes a market

The 51st edition of the Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 10 to 20, 2026, and includes the formal launch of a film market, TIFF: The Market, from September 10 to 16 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (TIFF, Wikipedia).

The opening film is Being Heumann by Sian Heder; the closing slot goes to Villeneuve: The Rise of a Legend by Yan Lanouette Turgeon. The programme includes approximately 200 feature films and more than 100 short films, with estimated attendance exceeding 500,000 among audience, industry and press (Toronto Tourism).

The addition of the market is not an organisational detail: it marks the shift from a screening showcase to a venue for rights sales, that is, the function that until now, in the calendar, belonged to other marketplaces.

Busan: the top prize opens the way to the Oscars

The 31st edition of the Busan International Film Festival takes place from October 6 to 15, 2026, at the Busan Cinema Center, at CGV Centum City and at Lotte Cinema Centum City. The programme includes 316 films, of which 247 titles are official invitees from 59 countries. The opening is entrusted to Nat-gwa bam-eun seoro-ege (The Day and the Night, to Each Other) by Kim Jong-kwan (Edaily, Busan International Film Festival).

The festival introduced competitive sections starting with the 30th edition in 2025, and as of 2026 it is listed among the leading top-tier festivals: the winner of the top prize, the Busan Award, gains eligibility to submit for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, following a revision of the Academy’s regulations (Namu Wiki).

Among the announced honors: Michelle Yeoh is Asian Filmmaker of the Year 2026, Hong Kong director Ann Hui will receive the Camellia Award, former festival president Kim Dong-ho will receive an award for merit in Korean cinema. Invited to the “Carte Blanche” section are director Kim Jee-woon, actress Fan Bingbing and cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo; Japan is the country of the year for the “Producer Hub” (Wikipedia).

Festival	Dates	Stated figures
Toronto (51st)	September 10-20, 2026	~200 feature films, more than 100 shorts
Busan (31st)	October 6-15, 2026	316 films, 247 invited from 59 countries
Venice (83rd)	September 2-12, 2026	jury verdict on the 12th

Venice heading toward the verdict

The 83rd International Film Art Exhibition concludes on Saturday, September 12, at the Lido, with the announcement of the Golden Lion, the Silver Lion-Grand Jury Prize, the Silver Lion for Best Direction, the Volpi Cups, the Special Jury Prize and the award for Best Screenplay. The international jury is chaired by Maggie Gyllenhaal (La Biennale di Venezia).

The edition’s second Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement was presented to Ellen Burstyn on Tuesday, September 8, at 3pm in the Sala Casinò, ahead of the out-of-competition screening of the documentary Joie de vivre and a masterclass at 4pm; the first had gone to George Clooney on September 2 at the opening ceremony (La Biennale di Venezia).

One figure remains inconsistent across sources: the number of films in competition is given as 21 by some accounts and as 20 by others, and should be verified against the official catalogue (Wondernet Magazine).

As of 2026, the winner of the Busan Award gains eligibility to submit for the international Oscar.

What we don’t know

The available material does not include the list of titles on the programme in Toronto nor Busan’s competitive selection. It does not report the number of accredited operators at the new Canadian market. The first verifiable element in chronological order is Toronto’s opening on September 10; the second is Venice’s verdict on the 12th.