With 293 titles screening at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) there’s a lot to take in. There are films across every genre, from all over the world, and in a multitude of languages. And when it comes to LGBTQ+ films in particular, we’ve got 7 films we’re looking forward to watching at TIFF!
The films listed below are from all walks of life. There are films about finding love in unexpected places, the power of found family, and about finding your passion again. But there are also films about parenthood, facing the prospect of death, and finding yourself for the first time.
And if you’re looking for more about what films are screening at TIFF, you can check out their full schedule here!
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1. La Bola Negra
Summary: At the cusp of the Spanish Civil War, a young man confronts his ideology and sexuality as he is conscripted into the fascist army where he becomes fascinated by a prisoner of war. Another young man in pre-dictatorship Spain finds himself blackballed from his father’s prestigious social club due to rumours about his sexuality. Finally, a young gay historian manoeuvres through his complicated family history and a unique inheritance decades after the dictatorship has ended.
Why We’re So Excited: La Bola Negra is giving Oscar campaign from the jump. And in a 2026 where our existence as LGBTQ+ people is consistently under attack, I love that this film looks like it’s an absolute spectacle with its immersive sets. Also, from the trailer alone, oh I feel like I’m going to cry. If that isn’t enough, Los Javis are directors and writers of this film.
2. Elsinore
Summary: The deeply emotional and inspirational true story of Ian Charleson, a gifted actor whose greatest challenge becomes his greatest triumph. Facing his own mortality with unflinching honesty, wit, and grace, Charleson delivers a courageous performance that becomes a source of healing and inspiration for those around him.
Why We’re So Excited: Firstly, I’m excited for Elsinore because of Andrew Scott. Anything he makes, I’m watching. As if that wasn’t enough, Olivia Colman is also in this movie. And I’d follow her anywhere too. But more than anything, the masses desperately need to be educated. And when it comes to our recent LGBTQ+ history, not enough people know about how AIDS/HIV changed our communities.
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3. Coward
Summary: Among those new arrivals in the trenches is Pierre (Emmanuel Macchia), a taciturn farmboy who’s mostly content to blend into the background of his troop. That makes him very different from Francis (Valentin Campagne), the son of a tailor and the enthusiastic lead performer in the ad hoc revues that the most theatrically inclined soldiers stage for their comrades as a welcome distraction. The spark of attraction between the two men leads to another means of escaping the misery and tragedy that surrounds them.
Why We’re So Excited: Another TIFF film with LGBTQ+ people in the military setting isn’t really my cup of tea. But I do like when stories are told where people deconstruct societal pressures as to who you’re “supposed” to love or “supposed” to be with. And it looks like that’s what’s happening here.
4. Club Kid
Summary: For Peter Green (Jordan Firstman), a promoter and purveyor of… shall we say… stimulating party favours in the queer New York club scene, the party never stops. Each revelry blurs into the next, with restraint and responsibility perpetually foisted upon others, especially his fed-up business partner Sophie (Cara Delevingne). But on the precipice of losing another decade to the rhythm of the night, reality bites in the form of his surprise parentage to 10-year-old Arlo (Reggie Absolom), the result of a half-remembered hookup. When his mother unexpectedly dies, the boy is thrust straight into Peter’s carousing care.
Why We’re So Excited: Basically, I’m a super for found family. And Club Kid has found family all over it. Also, from the trailer alone you can tell that yes, this is going to pull at your heartstrings. But also, it’s going to be funny. And oftentimes that’s the best way to deliver a story because it feels real and we understand that duality.
5. I Am Mario
Summary: Mario (Oustin de León) is a gentle forty-year-old transgender taxi driver working in a big city in present-day México. He has bonded with his colleagues and has a relationship with his family — his mother and two sisters — that is caring and mostly stable. When he unexpectedly becomes pregnant, he finally has the opportunity to fulfill a long-held and intimate desire to become a father. But the news also shakes what he thought were the solid foundations of many of his own beliefs and expectations, particularly those regarding his masculinity. Mario’s questioning leads him to painful decisions and a sense of being completely cornered by life. Before exposing himself to his colleagues and facing social prejudices, he must confront himself.
Why We’re So Excited: Personally, this is the gem of this entire list of LGBTQ+ films we’re looking forward to at TIFF. Because as a queer Latina, I’ve never seen a movie that explores being transgender in your 40s, the complexities that come with wanting to be a father, and the shocking revelation of being pregnant. Even better, the lead Oustin León is actually transgender so authentic representation is front and center.
6. Bitter Christmas
Summary: Elsa (Bárbara Lennie, TIFF ’22’s El Suplente) gave up art-house filmmaking for gainful employment as an advertising director long ago, but the urge to craft something personal and creative comes creeping back: she begins writing a new screenplay, drawing upon the misfortunes of her friends for material. Parallel to Elsa’s endeavour, revered auteur Raúl (Leonardo Sbaraglia, who featured in Almodóvar’s thematically related TIFF ’19 drama Pain and Glory) is also using the personal hardships of his inner circle to concoct character arcs for his new project. Both artists seek to rejuvenate their respective practices through autofictional devices that threaten to dismantle their most cherished relationships.
Why We’re So Excited: Right off the bat, you know you’re going to get complex women, bold colors, and passion when it comes to Pedro Almodóvar and his films. Passion specifically doesn’t have to be sensual either. And for these two characters it feels like the passion is for writing but also for finding oneself and that spark that maybe has been lost because life distracts us all.
7. Seventeen
Summary: Over the course of a day, three Indigenous sex workers intersect through the shared experience of displacement. Aidan, a hustler, experiences the city’s housing crisis head-on. Tamara, a nomadic sex worker, is spending six month stints on a traveller’s visa with the goal of making it home, she’s ashamed to discover she has less than a day to get back to the USA or face deportation. December, a beloved and hard working community girl, conceals a recent loss and spends her day helping Tamara. These three become linked, experiencing life and loss as urban Indigenous people just trying to survive.
Why We’re So Excited: Firstly, I love supporting directors who are hitting milestones. And that’s what director and writer Justin Ducharme is doing with Seventeen, as this is his directorial feature debut. Secondly, when it comes to Indigenous representation in film, we desperately need more of it. Even more so when it’s queer Indigenous representation. And finally, the found family of it all. Because family isn’t always blood. It’s the people who step up too.
