The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is underway and there is no shortage of movies for book lovers to see. TIFF 2026 begins on Thursday, Sept. 10 until Sunday, Sept. 20.
CBC Books went through the lineup of the festival’s 293 titles and are highlighting some of the most anticipated literary-inspired films to add to both your reading list and watch list.
YAGA
Based on: YAGA by Kat Sandler
Toronto playwright and showrunner Kat Sandler makes her directorial debut with the first episode of the Crave Original series, YAGA. Set on a remote coastal town, Carson is a local detective, tasked alongside a private investigator to find out why the resident party boy, Henry Park has disappeared. When the investigation leads them to a university professor who studies urban myths, it seems she has more secrets than answers left for them to uncover.
An adaptation of Sandler’s 2018 play, YAGA reimagines the witchy character from Slavic folklore as a mystical whodunnit in modern day. The cast of the 2026 series is a star-studded Canadian affair, including Heated Rivalry’s Hudson Williams and Carrie-Anne Moss of The Matrix movies.
A Long Winter
Based on: A Long Winter by Colm Tóibín
Set in the frigid Colorado mountains, A Long Winter is a period drama about a young man named Mike coming to terms with his mother’s disappearance after a blizzard. Adapted from Irish writer Colm Tóibin’s short novel, Mike comes of age as days turn into weeks without his mother, forcing him to live alongside his distant father.
The film is directed by English filmmaker Andrew Haigh, who previously directed All of Us Strangers in 2023, which was adapted from Taichi Yamada’s novel. The cast includes The White Lotus’ Fred Hechinger and Toronto-born actor D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, known for his role in the FX series Reservation Dogs.
Ba’s Book
Inspired by: Dear Da-Lê by Anh Duong
Anh Duong’s 2024 memoir Dear Da-Lê is told through a series of narrative letters Duong writes to his daughter about the trauma he endured during the Vietnam War and as a refugee during the Iranian Revolution in the 1970s. Now, in Canada, Duong shares his experiences within the Vietnamese diaspora through the lens of a father writing to his child.
His daughter, Ashley Duong, has done the inverse, creating a documentary in honour of her father’s story. In the film Ba’s Book, Ashley recreates her father’s childhood stories, looking back on her family’s migration from Vietnam to Calgary.
Being Heumann
Based on: Being Heumann by Judith Heumann with Kristen Joiner
Known as the “Mother of the Disability Rights Movement,” Judy Heumann advocated for the first civil rights legislation that would protect people with disabilities. Her memoir, Being Heumann, portrays her own coming-of-age, from being paralyzed from polio as a baby to her activism as an adult.
In 1977, Heumann organized dozens of people to occupy a federal building in San Franciso, then going to D.C. to pressure then President Jimmy Carter’s administration. Her work would go on to inspire many disability rights activists, which led to the creation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The film adaptation of the same name, Being Heumann, is directed by filmmaker Siân Heder, who previously won an Academy Award for the 2021 film CODA.
Carrie
Based on: Carrie by Stephen King
In the fifth adaptation of Stephen King’s debut horror novel, Carrie, the classic tale of the telekinetic teenager is reimagined for Gen Z audiences. In the 1974 novel, Carrie White is a sheltered girl with an abusive mom who takes bloody revenge on her high school bullies. Over the decades, Carrie has been adapted into three feature films, a TV film written by Bryan Fuller and now Mike Flanagan’s series for Prime.
This will be the third King book that Flanagan has adapted, after Gerald’s Game, Doctor Sleep and The Life of Chuck. Born in Salem, Massachusetts, the horror director is also known for the adaptations of The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor and The Fall of the House of Usher.
Clarissa
Based on: Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Clarissa reimagines Virginia Woolf’s 1925 novel Mrs. Dalloway over a century later in Nigeria. The original novel chronicles a single day in the life of a woman in London’s high society as she readies her home for a last minute party. Nigerian filmmakers Arie Esiri and Chuko Esiri set the story in Lagos, where Clarissa Dalloway and her husband Richard also prepare for a large social gathering.
As Clarissa goes about her day, fraught memories of past relationships come to the surface as she and her party guests reflect on political strife, existentialism and trauma.
Edward Said: Between Worlds
Inspired by: the writing of Edward Said
Edward Said: Between Worlds is a documentary film that draws on archival footage of the Palestinian American scholar throughout his public career. An activist, writer and professor at Columbia University, Said authored Orientalism and The Question of Palestine, books that became foundational in postcolonial studies.
Danish American director and Palestinian American producers Sarah Mowaswes and Razan Ghalayini collaborated with Said’s daughter, Najla Said to source hundreds of hours of interviews, talks and documentaries of her father before his death in 2003. The film is a curation of Said’s life as it coincides with global politics, from his birth in Palestine in 1935 to the Oslo Accords in 1993.
How We Stand
Based on: Tombs of the Vanishing Indian by Marie Clements
How We Stand is an adaptation of Vancouver-based Métis writer Marie Clements 2012 play, Tombs of the Vanishing Indian, inspired by real events. A mother and her three young daughters moved from Oklahoma in the 1950s as part of the Native American Relocation Program. Soon after they realize they have been lied to the sisters become separated. Twenty years on, Jessie, Miranda and Janey’s lives could not be more different, but through humour and their shared trauma, they find connection and belonging.
Clements is also the writer and director of the documentary film The Road Forward and the 2019 feature film Red Snow.
Tangles
Based on: Tangles by Sarah Leavitt
The animated film Tangles is an adaptation of Vancouver cartoonist Sarah Leavitt’s 2010 graphic memoir about finding out her mother had Alzheimer’s disease. In San Francisco in the 1990s, Leavitt was a young woman exploring the city, dating a biker girl and being carefree when she hears of her mom’s diagnosis and abruptly heads home to support her family. Leavitt struggles to become a caretaker, while noticing the many ways she and her family members cope in this story told with both comedy and care.
Leah Nelson is the director of Tangles and based in Vancouver. Notably, Abbi Jacobson, Bryan Cranston, Seth Rogen and Wanda Sykes all voice characters in the hand-drawn animations.
Phoolan
Based on: I, Phoolan Devi: The Autobiography of India’s Bandit Queen by Phoolan Devi
Known as India’s Bandit Queen, Phoolan Devi was born in the 1960s into a lower caste, then rose to power becoming a Member of Parliament after 11 years imprisoned. In 1996, Devi finally wrote her autobiography, recounting the exploitation and trauma she faced as a child bride and the subsequent kidnapping which then taught her how to be a bandit.
Mississauga-born filmmaker Richie Mehta brings Devi’s story to life in the film Phoolan. Focusing on a 48-hour siege in the “heartland” of India, Devi and her group of bandits outsmart 2,000 armed men and police in a thrilling biopic of one of India’s most prolific outlaws.
Look Back
Based on: Look Back by Tatsuki Fujimoto
Hirokazu Kore-eda directs the live-action adaptation of Look Back, a one-shot manga created by Japanese artist Tatsuki Fujimoto. The book, which was originally published in 2021, follows two talented young women through childhood into adulthood, as they dream of becoming manga artists. Also portrayed in the film, Fujino’s jealousy and admiration of Kyomoto’s artistry over the years continues to draw them closer together.
Look Back was previously adapted into an animated film by Kiyotaka Oshiyama in 2024. The 2026 live-action film was shot in 35mm and follows the young artists over the course of four seasons.
The Idiot(s)
Based on: The Gambler Wife by Andrew D. Kaufman
The influential 19th-century Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky was revered by many in his lifetime for his philosophy and writing, including his wife, Anna. Polish directors Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert depict the story of a young Anna when she meets Fyodor. While he’s obviously brilliant, Anna becomes concerned for his health and wellbeing as he struggles with epilepsy and develops a gambling addiction.
Based on the literary biography The Gambler Wife by writer and academic Andrew D. Kaufman, The Idiot(s) highlights the story of the woman who paved the way for Fyodor to write his seminal novel, The Idiot.
The Smell of Apples
Based on: The Smell of Apples by Mark Behr
Set in 1974 apartheid South Africa, The Smell of Apples is the story of a young white boy named Marnus who learns that his life of privilege is because of the oppression Black South Africans face. When a suspicious colleague of Marnus’ father shows up, over five days he witnesses the cruelty his family is involved in which shatters his illusion of a “peaceful home.”
South African filmmaker John Trengrove adapts Mark Behr’s debut novel, first published in 1993. Trengrove’s previous work includes the Academy Award-nominated film The Wound and Manadrome.
The Unknown
Based on: The Case of David Zimmerman by Lucas Harari and Arthur Harari, translated by David Homel
From Anatomy of a Fall co-writer Arthur Harari comes his latest film, The Unknown, adapted from a graphic novel created by Harari and his brother. The story follows David Zimmerman, a struggling photographer who wakes up the day after a party in the body of the woman he hooked up with. When he discovers that the person inhabiting his own body is someone else entirely, the three souls become more unsettled as they search for answers.
Harari is a French filmmaker and writer who won the Academy Award for Best Original Screeplay for Anatomy of a Fall in 2023. Blue is the Warmer Colour star Léa Seydoux portrays the body-swapped character of David.
Julián
Based on: Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love
In the animated film Julián, Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Louise Bagnall brings a heartfelt portrayal of a young Caribbean boy who wants to march in the Mermaid Parade. The story follows Julián when he goes to stay with his abuela in Brooklyn. One day, when they’re walking home, he notices fabulously dressed women in bright colours and fish tails. He begins to dress up as well and as his confidence grows, his abuela starts to understand who he is and who he’s becoming.
Julián comes from the Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon, which notably adapted Canadian Deborah Ellis’ The Breadwinner in 2017 and Samuel Sattin’s graphic novel Wolfwalkers in 2020.
