We’re winding down the final days of TIFF 2026, and Wednesday, Sept. 16, brings a world premiere starring South Korean superstar Lee Min-ho, a new Rami Malek drama, Penélope Cruz and Glenn Close on the same bill, and Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson closing out the evening with the world premiere of a new documentary celebrating late Rush drummer Neil Peart!
Here are some of the biggest stars and premieres to watch for around TIFF today.
Danny Boyle
Danny Boyle, director of the festival sleeper Ink, kicks things off at noon with a Visionaries event at the John W. H. Bassett Theatre. The Oscar-winning filmmaker behind Slumdog Millionaire, Trainspotting, 28 Days Later and Steve Jobs will sit down for one of TIFF’s extended conversations about his career and approach to filmmaking. The event begins at 12 p.m.
French actor Louis Garrel and Italian filmmaker Nanni Moretti
French star Louis Garrel could be another familiar face around TIFF Lightbox this afternoon as It Will Happen Tonight screens at 2:45 p.m.
Nanni Moretti’s romantic dramedy moves across decades and follows intertwined stories of love, chance and human connection. Garrel leads an ensemble that includes Jasmine Trinca, Hippolyte Girardot and Moretti himself.
Rami Malek is the man we all love
Rami Malek will draw one of the afternoon’s biggest crowds when The Man I Love screens at the Visa Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre at 3 p.m. The film is set in late-1980s New York and stars Malek as Jimmy George, a Downtown performance artist living with AIDS who has recently survived a serious bout of pneumonia. Rather than retreating from life, Jimmy throws himself back into art, relationships and the city’s nightlife as he faces his mortality.
Ira Sachs directed the film, which also stars Rebecca Hall, Tom Sturridge, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Luther Ford.
Penélope Cruz and Glenn Close star in La Bola Negra
Penélope Cruz could be back on the TIFF red carpet Wednesday after receiving a Special Tribute Award at the festival earlier this week! Her film La Bola Negra screens at the Royal Alexandra Theatre at 4:30 p.m.
The Spanish drama from Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi follows three men living in three different eras, 1932, 1937 and 2017, whose stories are connected by desire, pain and inheritance. The film draws from one of Federico García Lorca’s unfinished works and earned the filmmakers a shared Best Director prize at Cannes this year.
The cast includes Guitarricadelafuente, Miguel Bernardeau, Lola Dueñas, Penélope Cruz and Glenn Close, so some serious red-carpet potential.
John Turturro in The Only Living Pickpocket in New York
Roy Thomson Hall’s first major gala of the evening takes place at 5:30 p.m. with The Only Living Pickpocket in New York.
John Turturro stars as Harry, an aging New York pickpocket trying to survive in a world where cash-filled wallets have largely been replaced by cards that can be cancelled in seconds. His routine takes a dangerous turn when he steals a valuable USB drive and suddenly finds himself racing to return it before a crime family catches up with him.
The cast is packed with stars, inlcuding Giancarlo Esposito, Tatiana Maslany, Steve Buscemi and Jamie Lee Curtis. Noah Segan wrote and directed the crime thriller, which previously screened at Sundance and Berlin.
Carrie Coon, Lily James and Bella Ramsey
The Royal Alexandra Theatre switches gears at 8:30 p.m. with the Canadian premiere of The Liberation, a psychological thriller starring Carrie Coon, Lily James and Bella Ramsey!
Coon plays a mother who leaves her family behind and joins a secluded all-women commune led by a charismatic figure. When her daughters arrive hoping to bring her home, they become increasingly drawn into the group themselves, forcing their mother to choose between the life she escaped and the new freedom she believes she has found. Guy Nattiv directs the film, which also stars Odessa Young and Tracy Letts.
Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson pay tribute to late Rush drummer
Rush fans have one of the night’s biggest Canadian premieres to look forward to when Neil Peart: No One’s Disciple screens at the Princess of Wales Theatre at 9:30 p.m.!
The documentary looks back at the life, musicianship and legacy of the late Rush drummer through conversations with surviving bandmates Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, as well as some of rock’s best-known drummers, including Stewart Copeland of The Police, Tool’s Danny Carey, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and Gavin Harrison.
The film is directed by Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn, the Canadian filmmaking team behind music documentaries including Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage.
Lee and Lifeson are already on TIFF’s list of expected celebrity guests, so look for them on the red carpet.
Lee Min-ho in The Assassin(s)
One of the biggest red carpet appearances of the night could come at 9:30 p.m. at Roy Thomson Hall, where South Korean star Lee Min-ho headlines the world premiere of The Assassin(s).
The historical thriller is inspired by the attempted assassination of South Korean president Park Chung-hee in 1974. The story follows police officers and journalists who begin digging into the attack and find themselves confronting a much larger conspiracy, putting their careers and lives at risk as they try to uncover what really happened.
Director Hur Jin-ho heads up a major Korean ensemble that also includes Park Hae-il, known internationally for Decision to Leave, and Yoo Hai-jin of A Taxi Driver.
With Lee Min-ho’s huge international following and the film making its world premiere in Toronto, this could easily be one of Day 7’s biggest fan moments.
TIFF parties/late-night events to look forward to Wednesday
A LATAM Party & Film Celebration takes over Silent H at 461 King St. W. from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., with music and networking focused on Latin American cinema (this isn’t an official TIFF event, and registration is complimentary).
The Hollywood Reporter Green Room is still running inside Flora Lounge at 1 Hotel Toronto through Sept. 20. The festival pop-up has become one of this year’s industry gathering spots, with film-inspired cocktails and TIFF guests moving through the hotel during the festival, so a great spot for celeb spotting.
As always, fans hoping to catch the stars without a screening ticket can also watch the red carpets from TIFF’s designated viewing areas. Fan-zone lineups begin at 2 p.m., and Wednesday evening will likely be very active around King West and Roy Thomson Hall (so maybe try to get there early).
