South Asian Films Dominate TIFF 2026

The Toronto International Film Festival 2026 is hosting a bevy of films from South Asia, spanning features, documentaries, short films and classics. From Bangladesh to Nepal to Nagaland, diverse parts and languages from the sub-region find representation. There’s something for everyone, from genre lovers to those with an inclination for the contemplative. Here’s a round-up of the buzzy South Asian selections at the 51^st edition.

Nagaland filmmaker Theja Rio's Angh is the only Indian film selected for the Platform competition. Set in the early 1960s in a remote jungle near the Indo-Burma border, Angh follows Anghba, the last surviving chief of an abandoned Nagaland village. The Konyak chief lives in isolation with his ailing wife and non-speaking young son as the arrival of new religious and social influences begins to transform and shift the community and its traditional way of life.  The film stars Anghlong Konyak, Douglas Henshall, Sobino Rengma and Genpai Konyak in lead roles. It features cinematography by Adam Pietkiewicz, with editing by Tanya Chhabria. It is shot on 16mm.

Rio previously made a short film of the same name, which was honoured with the Special Jury Award at Clermont-Ferrand.

Marking the first Indian Tamil film to premiere at TIFF in a decade, Karthik Subbaraj’s 10^th fearure, Dorothy, premiered in the Centrepiece section. It follows Karthi and Subbu, two boys who grow up within an unforgiving landscape of rural Tamil Nadu. Dorothy is backed by Jio Studios and Sikhya Entertainment.

Dorothy stars Keerthy Suresh, Sananth and Rishikanth in pivotal roles. Ilaiyaraaja composed its original score and songs. The film is scheduled to release worldwide in cinemas on September 25, 2026.

Shaunak Sen’s debut fiction outing, Termite, is a short film that premiered in Short Cuts competition. It features Faisal Malik and Valavane Koumarane as middle-aged termite exterminators who are roommates and friends in Old Delhi. Sen, whose 2022 doc All That Breathes garnered an Oscar nod, is also editing his next documentary that chronicles his cancer journey.

Delhi Crime creator Richie Mehta’s narrative spins around the pivotal 48-hour standoff involving nearly 2,000 military personnel that ultimately led to Phoolan Devi's surrender. Chosen for the Special Presentation section, the film premiered at TIFF to a standing ovation. It is based on Devi’s autobiography I, Phoolan Devi: The Autobiography of India's Bandit Queen. Sneha Kumari leads the Prime Video film as Phoolan Devi. The ensemble cast includes Anurag Thakur, Vikram Pratap Singh, Aakash Dahiya, Prateek Pachouri, and Devdutt Banodiya.

Abinash Bikram Shah’s debut feature Elephants in the Fog won the Jury Prize in Cannes Un Certain Regard. Circling a Kinnar community cast in turmoil when a matriarch's daughter goes missing, the film is a Centrepiece selection at TIFF.  The film has been chosen as Nepal’s official Oscar entry. Puspa Thing Lama delivers a searing performance in the lead.

After bowing in Venice Film Festival's Orizzonti competition, Rubaiyat Hossain's psychological horror is in TIFF as a Centrepiece selection. The film follows a bride-to-be, Zaineen, as she goes through beauty rituals and family expectations. However, her body reacts in many unexpected ways. Amongst home remedies, social pressures, and haunting visions, the path to marriage becomes a physical and psychological struggle against what is imposed on her. Rikita Nondine Shimu and Azmeri Haque Badhon round out the cast led by Zaineen Chowdhury Karim.

Directed by Samjad, Half stars Amala Paul, Abbas, Ranjith Sajeev, Sreekanth Murali, and Aishwarya Raj. The action thriller marks the first time a Malayalam film is selected for TIFF's Midnight Madness slate. Half follows twin half-blooded vampires as they wage war with desert highway hijackers in a gory martial arts Indian western. Half is produced by PK Sajeev and Anne Sajeev under the banner of Fragrant Nature Film Creations. Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar’s Excel Entertainment will present and distribute the film in Hindi.

One of the pioneering works of Indian political cinema, John Abraham’s final film Amma Ariyan (Report to Mother) follows a young man in 1970s Kerala as he journeys — with a progressive swell of companions — to inform a mother of her son’s death, amid widespread unrest. It was restored by Film Heritage Foundation at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory and Digital Film Restore Pvt. Ltd. in association with Odessa Collective.

Helmed by Rahul Roye, Aman centres on two transgender siblings whose close relationship is tested when one of them prepares for gender-affirming surgery. The film explores identity, masculinity, the body, and family bonds through an intimate story about siblings. The film is chosen for the Short Cuts competition at the Toronto Film Festival.

Kalainithan Kalaichelvan's short film, Till the Milk Runs Dry, revolves around Madhu, a Bharatanatyam dancer and her inner world. It's also in the Short Cuts programme. The official description elaborates, "True to signature form, Kalainithan Kalaichelvan conjures a deeply sensorial experience with stunning, dreamlike visuals reflecting the inner turmoil of a dancer under immense pressure at a prestigious Bharatanatyam dance academy in this stunning observation of bodily autonomy." This comes a year after Kalainithan’s TIFF 2025 premiere, Karupy.