From Rwanda and Haiti to Nigeria, Ghana, Hollywood and right here in Toronto, here are the Black + African Diaspora films and programmes on my TIFF 2026 radar.

TIFF is busy. The schedule is, well … a whole lot!

And if you’re trying to find the Black stories in this year’s lineup while also figuring out screenings, venues, tickets, and how the hell you’re supposed to get from one side of downtown Toronto to the other in 20 minutes, your calendar may need its own producer.

So I did some of the work for you. I’ve pulled together 21 films and programme entries connected to TIFF’s Black + African Diaspora programming that caught my attention this year.

This is not a ranking. Number 1 isn’t “better” than number 21. Please don’t start that foolishness with me.

What interests me is the range.

We’ve got stories connected to Rwanda, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Ghana, Chad, Brazil, the United States, and Canada. Drama. Documentary. Comedy. Music. Thrillers. Fantasy. Shorts. Archives. Big names. Emerging filmmakers.

And yes, Chris Rock is in here too. But I don’t want us watching only for the celebrities.

Pay attention to who directed the film. Who wrote it. Who produced it. Who shot it. Who preserved the archive. Who got their first feature made. Who took a tiny budget and stretched the hell out of it.

Because representation isn’t only about who gets to stand in front of the camera.

It’s also about who gets to build the story.

Not every entry here is Black-directed. Some are Black-led, some centre Black stories, and some appear through TIFF’s programme and genre filtering. I’m naming those distinctions because precision matters.

Let’s get it.

Stories of home, history, and survival

1. Ben’Imana — Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo, Centrepiece

This debut feature from Rwandan filmmaker Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo explores forgiveness after the Tutsi genocide through gacaca courts and intergenerational stories. It won the Caméra d’Or at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival. That alone puts it on the radar, but so does the way it takes on post-genocide justice and reconciliation without shrinking the scale of the story.
Screenings: Thu Sep 10, 9:30 a.m., Scotia 10; Tue Sep 15, 6:30 p.m., Scotia 10; Wed Sep 16, 6:55 p.m., Scotia 14; Sat Sep 19, 3:30 p.m., Scotia 9. Content advisory: violence, sexual violence, bullying, mature themes.

2. Congo Boy — Rafiki Fariala, Centrepiece

Rafiki Fariala, born in Uvira in the Democratic Republic of Congo and raised in the Central African Republic, follows a displaced teenager in Bangui who cares for his family, pursues medical school, and finds purpose through poetry and rap. This one caught my attention because it sounds intimate without sounding small.
Screenings: Thu Sep 10, 3:20 p.m., Scotia 10; Tue Sep 15, 3:10 p.m., Scotia 4; Fri Sep 18, 8:20 p.m., Scotia 9; Sun Sep 20, 10:15 a.m., Scotia 7.

3. Marie Madeleine — Géssica Généus, Centrepiece

Haitian filmmaker Géssica Généus directs and stars in this reimagining of Mary Magdalene, set in Jacmel and shaped by spirituality, sexuality, dance, poetry, and song. And this one has my attention. Généus puts a complicated Black woman at the centre of the story and lets her stay complicated. We need more of that.
Screenings: Fri Sep 11, 6:30 p.m., Scotia 10; Tue Sep 15, 10 p.m., TIFF Lightbox; Wed Sep 16, 3:30 p.m., Scotia 9; Sun Sep 20, 7:25 p.m., Scotia 8. Content advisory: mature themes, sexual content, violence, homophobic content.

4. On Behalf of My Son — Gabriel Martins, Platform

Directed by Brazilian filmmaker Gabriel Martins, this drama follows a grieving mother seeking forgiveness from families after a tragic bus accident. TIFF tags it Black + African Diaspora and Latin American. Good. Black storytelling is not one geography, one language, or one national experience.
Screenings: Sat Sep 12, 8:15 p.m., TIFF Lightbox; Mon Sep 14, 12:15 p.m., TIFF Lightbox; Tue Sep 15, 12:15 p.m., TIFF Lightbox; Fri Sep 18, 11:15 a.m., TIFF Lightbox.

5. Soumsoum, The Night of the Stars — Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Centrepiece

Chadian filmmaker Mahamat-Saleh Haroun blends realism and fantasy in a story about a young woman with visions who faces ostracism before finding connection. The film won the FIPRESCI Award at the 2026 Berlinale. That mix of realism and fantasy is exactly why it stands out.
Screenings: Fri Sep 11, 5:50 p.m., Scotia 6; Thu Sep 17, 3:30 p.m., TIFF Lightbox; Fri Sep 18, 9:15 p.m., TIFF Lightbox.

6. Sunburn — Serville Poblete, TIFF Next Wave Selects

Toronto filmmaker Serville Poblete sets this Canadian coming-of-age film in St. James Town during a heatwave and blackout. Its cast includes Filipino, Jamaican, Guyanese, and Black actors, and TIFF says the film was selected by the Next Wave Committee. I clocked this one fast because it is Canadian, local, and rooted in a real neighbourhood instead of flattening the city into generic background.
Screenings: Fri Sep 11, 3:30 p.m., Scotia 9; Mon Sep 14, 6:25 p.m., Scotia 8; Wed Sep 16, 6:10 p.m., Scotia 2; Thu Sep 17, 5:50 p.m., Scotia 6; Sat Sep 19, 6:30 p.m., Scotia 10.

Black women, sisterhood, and complicated lives

7. Clarissa — Arie Esiri and Chuko Esiri, Special Presentations

Nigerian brothers Arie and Chuko Esiri adapt Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway to contemporary Lagos. The cast includes Sophie Okonedo and David Oyelowo, and TIFF tags the film Black + African Diaspora and Sub-Saharan African. A Lagos adaptation of Mrs. Dalloway? Yes, I want to see what that conversation looks like on screen.
Screenings: Fri Sep 11, 8:45 a.m., Scotia 2; Fri Sep 11, 2:45 p.m., VSR; Sat Sep 12, noon, Scotia 14.

8. Prima Facie — Susanna White, Gala Presentations

Susanna White directs Cynthia Erivo in this examination of a barrister who becomes the accuser in a sexual assault case. TIFF tags it Black + African Diaspora and British + Irish, but it is not Black-directed. I’m saying that plainly because precision matters, and so does recognising what Erivo is carrying here as the lead.
Screenings: Sun Sep 13, 5:45 p.m., Roy Thomson Hall; Mon Sep 14, 9 a.m., TIFF Lightbox; Mon Sep 14, 12:10 p.m., Scotia 1; Fri Sep 18, 6:45 p.m., Scotia 3; Sat Sep 19, 9 p.m., Scotia 4. Content advisory: sexual assault, racism, explicit violence, strobing effects.

9. Re/Pair — Lacey Schwartz Delgado, TIFF Docs

Lacey Schwartz Delgado brings Black and Jewish communities into conversation through 19 pairings involving writers, commentators, and actors. It does not offer simple solutions. Good. Some conversations should stay difficult if that is what honesty requires.
Screenings: Mon Sep 14, 3:45 p.m., Scotia 14; Tue Sep 15, 2:15 p.m., Scotia 12; Wed Sep 16, 9:55 p.m., Scotia 3; Fri Sep 18, 9 p.m., Scotia 14.

10. Zjili: A Story of Sisterhood and The Burdens of Excess — Christine Boateng and Hajara Musah Chambas, Discovery / TIFF Next Wave Selects

Ghanaian filmmakers Christine Boateng and Hajara Musah Chambas follow three women working as kayayei porters in Accra’s secondhand clothing market and e-waste environment. The subject alone makes this worth attention, and the fact that it avoids turning women’s work into spectacle matters.
Screenings: Thu Sep 10, 6 p.m., Scotia 7; Mon Sep 14, 6:30 p.m., Scotia 10; Wed Sep 16, 8:30 p.m., Scotia 8; Fri Sep 18, 12:25 p.m., Scotia 11.

11. Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been — Barry Avrich, TIFF Docs

Canadian filmmaker Barry Avrich profiles Darlene Love, including her under-credited years as a singer and her later claim to the spotlight. TIFF identifies the film as Canadian and American, and tags it Black + African Diaspora. If you create anything for a living, this one should hit a nerve. Darlene Love spent years doing work people heard without always getting the credit people saw. Document your work. Keep your receipts. Because apparently we still have to remind industries who built the damn thing.
Screenings: Sun Sep 13, 10 a.m., Scotia 12; Mon Sep 14, 1 p.m., Royal Alexandra Theatre; Tue Sep 15, 7:30 p.m., Scotia 12; Thu Sep 17, 8:40 a.m., Scotia 2; Sat Sep 19, 1:45 p.m., Scotia 13.

Music, ambition, and making a way

12. Misty Green — Chris Rock, Gala Presentations

Written and directed by Chris Rock, this satire centres a Black actor trying to keep her career and brother alive while exposing Hollywood’s bigotry, class pressure, and misogyny. Rock has spent years moving between stand-up, acting, writing, producing, and directing. That career flexibility is the lesson here. Creators do not have to stay in the box people first discovered them in.
Screenings: Sat Sep 12, 9:30 p.m., Roy Thomson Hall; Sun Sep 13, 8:40 a.m. and 9 p.m., Scotia 2 and Scotia 1; Fri Sep 18, 12:10 p.m., Scotia 1; Sat Sep 19, 3 p.m., TIFF Lightbox.

13. Voices — Deanté Gray, Discovery

Houston-born filmmaker Deanté Gray makes his feature debut with a 1960s-set musical chamber thriller about a bellhop who sees an opportunity to seize a music act’s identity. It was shot on a shoestring, but the ambition is clear. A contained setup with that kind of concept? That will always get my attention.
Screenings: Fri Sep 11, 11:45 a.m., Scotia 11; Mon Sep 14, 3 p.m., Scotia 13; Tue Sep 15, 9:40 p.m., Scotia 10; Sun Sep 20, 4:30 p.m., Scotia 2.

14. Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother — Bassam Tariq, Special Presentations

Pakistani-born, Houston-raised filmmaker Bassam Tariq directs Mahershala Ali in an action thriller about a devout Muslim family man and contract killer trying to leave violence behind. It is Black-led through Ali, not Black-directed, and that distinction matters when people start flattening every diaspora story into the same category.
Screenings: Sat Sep 12, 8:30 a.m., John Bassett Theatre; Sat Sep 12, 9:30 p.m., VSR; Sun Sep 13, 11:15 a.m., TIFF Lightbox 2; Fri Sep 18, 2:30 p.m., VSR. Content advisory: explicit violence, sexual content, coarse language, mature themes.

Archives, genre, and new forms

15. Once Upon a Time in Harlem — William Greaves and David Greaves, Wavelengths

William Greaves conceived this living archive in 1972; his son David Greaves completed it 50 years later. The film preserves artists, poets, musicians, scholars, and painters from the Harlem Renaissance gathered at Duke Ellington’s home. I’m always going to make room for archive work like this because preservation is part of the culture too.
Screenings: Mon Sep 14, 4:10 p.m., Scotia 7; Tue Sep 15, 6:20 p.m., Scotia 4; Wed Sep 16, 10 a.m., TIFF Lightbox.

16. The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives — Daniel Oriahi, Centrepiece

Nigerian filmmaker Daniel Oriahi directs this Centrepiece entry. The title itself points toward a major Nigerian literary and cultural conversation, but TIFF’s supplied page is sparse, so I’m not padding this with guesses. Check the official page before you go.
Screenings: Fri Sep 11, 9 p.m., TIFF Lightbox 2; Sat Sep 12, 8:50 a.m., Scotia 4; Sun Sep 13, 2:45 p.m., TIFF Lightbox 1; Sat Sep 19, 10:30 a.m., Scotia 13.

17. TIFF schedule — Short Cuts 2026 / Strange Cuts — Short Cuts programme entry

This is one of four Short Cuts programme entries in this guide, included through the supplied TIFF schedule and Black + African Diaspora filtering context. I’m not treating it like a single Black film or implying every short in the block fits one identity label. It is here because the programme context matters too.
Screenings: Wed Sep 16, 9:15 p.m., Scotia 10; Thu Sep 17, 8:55 a.m., Scotia 8; Sat Sep 19, 7:30 p.m., Scotia 11.

18. Short Cuts 2026 Programme 03

The programme includes Dough Man by Brittney Gavin and Amy Mielke, a comedy set in a Halifax Black community. That Canadian setting matters. Halifax is not background decoration. It shapes the story.
Screenings: Sat Sep 12, 9:15 a.m. and 3:15 p.m., Scotia 3 and Scotia 4; Thu Sep 17, 3:30 p.m., Scotia 7.

19. Short Cuts 2026 Programme 05

Look for The Spectacular Death of Prisca by Nigerian filmmaker Kaelo Iyizoba, described by TIFF as a love letter to 2000s Nollywood. Honestly, that description is enough to make me curious.
Screenings: Mon Sep 14, 8:55 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., Scotia 8 and Scotia 11; Fri Sep 18, 2:45 p.m., Scotia 9.

20. Short Cuts 2026 Programme 06

TIFF’s official page is sparse, and I’m including this as a programme entry connected to the supplied TIFF schedule and Black + African Diaspora filtering context. I’m not inventing individual titles or summaries, and I’m not implying every short in the block is Black-directed.
Screenings: Tue Sep 15, 8:55 a.m., Scotia 8; Tue Sep 15, 2:15 p.m., Scotia 6; Sat Sep 19, 10 a.m., Scotia 11.

21. The Fortunate Isles — Helena Girón and Samuel Delgado, Discovery

This Discovery entry is directed by Helena Girón and Samuel Delgado. I’m including it here as an entry connected to the supplied TIFF schedule and Black + African Diaspora filtering context, not as proof that every category line maps neatly onto authorship. TIFF’s supplied page is currently sparse, so consult the official film page for the current description, access details, and any updated screening information.
Screenings: Thu Sep 10, 10 p.m., TIFF Lightbox 4; Tue Sep 15, 6 p.m., Scotia 11; Thu Sep 17, 11:45 a.m., Scotia 10; Sun Sep 20, 3:50 p.m., Scotia 6.

How to plan your TIFF list

Screening times and ticket availability can change. This guide links to TIFF’s current pages, but I’m not pretending a festival schedule sits still. Check the individual film page before you leave.

1. Choose one anchor film and two discovery films. Start with a film you already want to see, then add a filmmaker or programme you do not know yet. That is how you expand your reference points without turning your day into punishment.
2. Leave travel time between venues. Roy Thomson Hall, TIFF Lightbox, Scotiabank Theatre Toronto, the VISA Screening Room, and John Bassett Theatre are not one giant room. Give yourself time for transit, lineups, accessibility needs, food, and the inevitable “where is the entrance?” moment.
3. Check the official film page before leaving. Confirm current screening times, ticket inventory, content advisories, captions, audio description, and other accessibility notes. Press & Market screenings may not be public screenings, so do not assume every listed time is ticketed.

TIFF screening times and ticket availability can change during the Festival. Check the official TIFF schedule and the individual film page immediately before making plans.

Black Canadian creators should watch for more than the stars. Study the mechanics: whose stories get financed, how filmmakers use genre, how shorts become calling cards, how archives are preserved, how diaspora stories move across borders, and how Canadian creators like Serville Poblete build work rooted in local communities.

Which film or programme are you watching first — and whose creative process do you want us to dig into next?

Sources & References

• TIFF 2026 Films and Events Schedule
• TIFF ’26 Discovery Programme announcement
• Ben’Imana
• Clarissa
• Congo Boy
• Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been
• Marie Madeleine
• Misty Green
• On Behalf of My Son
• Once Upon a Time in Harlem
• Prima Facie
• Re/Pair
• Short Cuts 2026 Programme 03
• Short Cuts 2026 Programme 05
• Short Cuts 2026 Programme 06
• Soumsoum, The Night of the Stars
• Sunburn
• The Fortunate Isles
• The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives
• Voices
• Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother
• Zjili: A Story of Sisterhood and The Burdens of Excess

Additional references

• Festival de Cannes — Ben’Imana
• Cinéma de Demain — Ben’Imana Caméra d’Or 2026
• FIPRESCI 2026 awards
• Roy Thomson Hall — Misty Green
• AP News — TIFF 2026 preview
• People — Chris Rock returns to directing with Misty Green

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