Toronto International Film Festival to honor Penélope Cruz, Rosalind Eleazar, Siân Heder and Isabelle Huppert
The 51st Toronto International Film Festival is set for Sept. 10-20 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Tribute Awards gala is TIFF’s largest annual fundraiser and a world-class celebration of cinematic excellence, with proceeds supporting expanded access to cinema, championing artists, strengthening the industry, and bringing communities together through film.
Read MoreSerena Rossi to be honored with Passion for Film Award at Venice International Film Festival
The Campari Passion for Film Award is an accolade created to honor the talent, dedication, and bold artistic vision of those who transform passion into a driving creative force. The award honors those who turn passion into a driving creative force — not simply as a lifetime achievement, but as a tribute to the will to stand out and leave an indelible mark on the art of cinematic storytelling.
Read MoreAgnieszka Holland’s Franz Kafka biopic ‘Franz’ is coming soon to theaters
Billed as Holland’s most ambitious project to date, her biopic of the iconic 20th-century Czech writer had its world premiere last year at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival, and it became Poland’s official entry to the 98th Academy Awards.
Read MoreDirected by Georgia Oakley, new take on Jane Austen’s ‘Sense and Sensibility’ to bow in fall
Daisy Edgar-Jones (“Twisters,” “Where the Crawdads Sing”) as Elinor and Esme Creed-Miles (“The Sandman,” “The Chronology of Water”) as Marianne. George MacKay (“1917”) is portraying Elinor’s love interest, Edward Ferrars. Frank Dillane (“Urchin”) stars as Marianne’s initial love interest John Willoughby, and Herbert Nordrum (“The Worst Person in the World”) plays her later suitor, Colonel Brandon
Read MoreBritish filmmaker Alicia MacDonald’s feature film debut ‘Finding Emily’ appears in U.S. theaters in summer
“Finding Emily” follows a lovesick musician who is given the wrong number for his dream girl, so he teams up with a driven psychology student to find her. Together, they spark a hilarious campus-wide frenzy that tests their own hearts and ambitions along the way.
Read MoreIsabella Rossellini to receive the Excellence Award at the 2026 Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland
The daughter of two cinema legends, she has left her distinct mark on film history, forging a career featuring collaborations with filmmakers like Robert Zemeckis, David O. Russell, Marjane Satrapi, Guy Maddin, the Taviani brothers and, arguably most memorably of all, David Lynch, delivering remarkable turns that have given powerful but elusive voice to their diverse visions.
Read MoreRoadside Attractions cooking up a theatrical bow for Alysa Nahmias’ documentary ‘Cookie Queens’
The documentary “Cookie Queens,” which made its world premiere at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, counts Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex; Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, among its executive producers.
Read MoreIconic Japanese filmmaker Kinuyo Tanaka to be honored with Criterion Collection Eclipse Series box set
The “Eclipse Series 48: Kinuyo Tanaka Directs” collects the six movies that the iconic actor made once she bravely shifted into making movies instead of simply starring in them. She became just the second woman filmmaker in Japan and the only female director to be active during the post-World War II Golden Age of Japanese cinema in the late 1950s.
Read MoreDebbie Horsfield’s new series ‘The Forsytes’ to make U.S. premiere on ‘Masterpiece’ on PBS
The stellar ensemble cast for “The Forsytes” includes Francesca Annis, Jack Davenport, Tom Durant Pritchard, Jamie Flatters, Millie Gibson, Danny Griffin, Susan Hampshire, Owen Igiehon, Tuppence Middleton, Stephen Moyer, Joshua Orpin, Josette Simon and Eleanor Tomlinson.
Read MoreMichelle Yeoh receiving 2026 Honorary Golden Bear at Berlin International Film Festival
Born in Ipoh, Malaysia, Yeoh served as a member of the Berlinale International Jury in 1999. Since, she has captivated audiences at the Berlinale and around the world time and again with her work in films such as “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and, more recently, in the phenomenon that was “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
Read MoreChloé Zhao, Nia DaCosta and Geeta Gandbhir to be honored at 2026 Sundance Film Festival
The awards will be presented at the fundraising event “Celebrating Sundance Institute: A Tribute to Founder Robert Redford,” which is taking place Jan. 23 at the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley. The event will be a meaningful tribute to Sundance Institute’s Founder, Robert Redford, who died Sept. 16, 2025, at his home in Sundance, Utah, at age 89.
Read MoreMaryam Touzani’s drama ‘Calle Malaga’ to open the Palm Springs International Film Festival
“Calle Málaga” had its world premiere in the Spotlight at the 2025 Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award. It also was selected as Morocco’s official entry for the Oscars‘ international feature film category, but it did not make the shortlist.
Read MoreSearchlight Pictures releasing ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’ in select 70mm theaters for Christmas
Academy Award nominee Amanda Seyfried (“Mank,” “The Housemaid”) stars as the Shakers’ irrepressible leader. One of pre-Revolutionary America’s seminal religious figures, Lee espoused gender and social equality while believing herself to be the female incarnation of Christ.
Read More‘Little Disasters,’ based on Sarah Vaughan’s best-selling novel, coming to Paramount+
Vaughan is the Sunday Times and international best-selling author of “Anatomy of a Scandal,” “Little Disasters” and “Reputation,” plus two earlier novels. Translated into 26 languages, “Anatomy of a Scandal” was adapted into a 2022 anthology series starring Sienna Miller, Michelle Dockery and Rupert Friend. It became a worldwide No. 1 Netflix limited series, watched for 200 million hours in its first month alone.
Read MoreMira Nair’s debut narrative feature ‘Salaam Bombay!’ is getting a 4K Criterion Collection release
“Salaam Bombay!” follows young Krishna (Shafiq Syed), who is cast out by his family and makes his way to the city, where he encounters love, friendship and tragedy in the face of extreme poverty. Drawing naturalistic performances from her cast, which consists largely of children she met on the streets, Nair creates an intimate human drama that is empathetic, heartbreaking and uplifting.
Read MoreHelen Mirren to receive Golden Globes’ 2026 Cecil B. DeMille Award
A new primetime special, “Golden Eve,” will debut on Jan. 8, 2026, a few days before the Golden Globes Awards ceremony, showcasing Mirren as the recipient of the Cecil B. DeMille Award as well as the winner of the Carol Burnett Award.
Read MoreFocus Features is releasing Chloe Zhao’s acclaimed drama ‘Hamnet’ in theaters for Thanksgiving
“Hamnet” has been generating Oscars buzz since it made its world premiere in August at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado. The devastating drama subsequently played the 50th Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the coveted People’s Choice Award.
Read MoreHIKARI’s ‘Rental Family,’ starring Brendan Fraser, is opening in theaters via Searchlight Pictures
Set in modern-day Tokyo, the film follows an American actor who struggles to find purpose until he lands an unusual gig: working for a Japanese “rental family” agency, playing stand-in roles for strangers. As he immerses himself in his clients’ worlds, he begins to form genuine bonds that blur the lines between performance and reality.
Read MoreShih-Ching Tsou’s ‘Left-Handed Girl’ heading to theaters ahead of Netflix debut
“Left-Handed Girl” follows a single mother and her two daughters, who return to Taipei after several years of living in the countryside to open a stand at a buzzing night market. Each in their own way will have to adapt to this new environment to make ends meet and maintain the family unity. But when their traditional grandfather forbids his youngest left-handed granddaughter from using her “devil hand,” generations of family secrets begin to unravel.
Read MoreSepideh Farsi’s ‘Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk’ to be released in theaters via Kino Lorber
The documentary offers an intimate, first-hand perspective on life under siege in Gaza, captured through video calls between the director and 25-year-old Palestinian photojournalist and poet Fatma Hassona, who was killed by a targeted Israeli airstrike in April.
Read MoreBAFTA winner Sally Wainwright’s anticipated new series ‘Riot Women’ sets BritBox premiere date
Featuring original songs from the English femme alt-rock duo ARXX, the series follows five menopausal women – a teacher, a police officer, a pub landlady, a midwife and a shoplifting freeloader – who form a punk rock band to take part in a local talent contest. Once they pick up their instruments, they suddenly find they have a lot more to shout about than they ever imagined.
Read MoreDirected by Cosima Spender, music documentary ‘Andrea Bocelli: Because I Believe’ heading to movie theaters
Blending archival footage and interviews with candid, fly-on-the-wall moments, the music documentary, which premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, traces the journey of a voice that has moved millions, from humble beginnings to sold-out shows around the world.
Read MoreLizzie Borden’s iconic 1983 movie ‘Born in Flames’ is getting a Blu-ray release via The Criterion Collection
Named one of “The 50 Most Important Independent Films” by Filmmaker Magazine, “Born in Flames” has been shown at countless festivals and theaters around the world. It has been taught and written about extensively since its 1983 premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.
Read More50+ movies directed by women playing the 50th Toronto International Film Festival, including ‘Couture,’ ‘Hamnet’ and ‘Eleanor the Great’
Directorial debuts from Scarlett Johansson, Shu Qi, Maude Apatow and Alice Winocour, the latest films from Academy Award winners Chloé Zhao and Laura Poitras, and new movies from Oscar nominee Agnieszka Holland, Nia DaCosta, Isabel Coixet, Claire Denis and more are on the high-profile slate for the 50th anniversary Toronto International Film Festival in September.
Read MoreHind Meddeb’s acclaimed documentary ‘Sudan, Remember Us’ comes to U.S. theaters
The festival standout, which captures a jubilant moment of defiance among young Sudanese activists in the capital city of Khartoum after the overthrow of a long dictatorship and then chronicles the military crackdown that followed, had its world premiere last year at the 81st Venice International Film Festival in Italy.
Read MoreWelcome to The Week In Women, an AWFJ Network Blog authored by Brandy McDonnell
An Alliance of Women Film Journalists blog.