Toronto opens its 51st edition as the map of Oscar-qualifying festivals expands to six

The 51st edition of the Toronto International Film Festival begins today, September 10, and closes on the 20th. The opening film is “Being Heumann” by Siân Heder, an Apple Original production, having its world premiere at Roy Thomson Hall; closing the festival will be “Villeneuve: The Rise of a Legend” by Yan Lanouette Turgeon. The program is the festival’s official one, reported by IndieWire, by The A.V. Club and by the edition’s entry on Wikipedia.

Two structural novelties. The first is commercial: TIFF: The Market debuts, the festival’s market, hosted at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre from September 10 to 16. Toronto built its reputation on audiences and on prizes decided by the public; equipping itself with a market means competing on the ground of deal-making too, territory where other venues have counted so far.

The second novelty concerns the awards. For the first time, the winner in a non-English language of the Platform Award can qualify directly for the Best International Feature Film Oscar. The eighth edition of the TIFF Tribute Awards is set for Sunday, September 13 at the Fairmont Royal York; the festival’s winners, including the People’s Choice Awards, are announced on the last day.

Six doors, one Asian

The rule affecting Toronto is part of a broader change. In May 2026 the Academy amended the international award’s regulations, including among the requirements non-English-language films honored at qualifying festivals. The enabling festivals become six worldwide: Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Sundance, Toronto and Busan.

Busan is the only Asian one on the list. The Korean festival has been included in the “A-list” category of FIAPF’s new certification system, and starting this year the winner of the Busan Award — the top prize of the competitive section — earns the right to compete for the international Oscar. This is reported by Marie Claire Korea, the Korean-language encyclopedic entry dedicated to the festival on Wikipedia, the compilation by Namuwiki and the program published by Sano.

Busan’s path has been recent: the festival moved from non-competitive to competitive starting with the 30th edition in 2025, with five Busan Awards dedicated to Asian cinema. The 31st edition runs from October 6 to 15, 2026 across Centum City, Haeundae and Nampo-dong, with its main venue at the Busan Cinema Center. The chosen opening film is the new work by director Kim Jong-kwan, set in a café and built around four couples. The “Asian Filmmaker of the Year 2026” award goes to actress Michelle Yeoh, expected in Korea with a special program of films she has selected.

What changes for producers

Before the amendment, the path to an international nomination went through each country’s national designation. The addition of qualifying festivals opens a second route, which depends on international juries rather than national committees. For a non-English-language film lacking support from its own country, a prize at Toronto or Busan becomes a procedural alternative.

Meanwhile the European calendar is closing: the 83rd Venice Film Festival, underway at the Lido since September 2 with twenty-one films in competition and a jury chaired by Maggie Gyllenhaal, announces its award list on Saturday, September 12, according to the program released by the Biennale.

What we don’t know

We do not know which films will compete for Toronto’s Platform Award: the available material does not include the section’s selection. We do not know the complete list of titles competing at Busan. The first verifiable dates are those of the verdicts: September 12 in Venice, the 20th in Toronto, October 15 in Busan.