Frontmezzjunkies reports: TIFF’s Wavelengths and Classics programmes bring experimental cinema, rediscovered gems, and a few very tempting reasons to keep adding films to my TIFF51 calendar
My TIFF cinematic adventure is already beginning to look slightly dangerous, and now TIFF has given me another reason to keep circling around all these titles. With the announcement of the 2026 Wavelengths and TIFF Classics programmes, the 51st Toronto International Film Festival is filling in another corner of the festival experience, one that moves from boundary-pushing contemporary cinema to restored films with histories of their own. As someone heading into TIFF51 with my accreditation confirmed and another festival marathon waiting to unfold, these are exactly the kinds of announcements that make the planning both exciting and slightly overwhelming. I went through the selections knowing full well that I cannot see everything, and still found myself making mental notes.
Wavelengths feels particularly inviting this year, with 11 feature films alongside shorts and mid-length works from filmmakers working across a wonderfully eclectic range of cinematic forms. Beatrice Gibson’s “At Night“, Lisandro Alonso’s “Double Freedom“, Nicolás Pereda’s “Everything Else is Noise“, Angela Schanelec’s “My Wife Cries“, Denis Côté’s “Nobody’s Violence“, and Radu Jude’s “The Diary of a Chambermaid” are among the feature films catching my eye, while the World Premiere selections open up an even more adventurous corner of the programme. Yuula Benivolski’s “The Black Box is Orange” and John Torres’ “The Remotes” arrive, while the short and mid-length selections bring together filmmakers including Parastoo Anoushahpour, Rita Ferrando, Kamal Aljafari, Maryam Tafakory, James Richards, Simon Liu, and Vika Kirchenbauer. Then there is Johann Lurf’s “Forever…Forever“, receiving a North American Premiere in 70mm. That is a lot of cinematic possibility packed into one programme.
TIFF Classics offers another kind of invitation, sending audiences back through cinema history with restorations and rediscoveries. The captivating arrival of Ken Russell’s “The Devils” in a 4K director’s cut with Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave is enough to make one stop scrolling, matching the excitement of Lynne Stopkewich’s “Kissed” return in a new 4K restoration. John Abraham’s “Report to Mother“, Fei Mu’s “Spring in a Small Town“, and Kon Ichikawa’s “Ten Dark Women” also receive new restorations, each bringing a very different cinematic history into the festival. The Pelechian Project adds several newly restored films by Armenian filmmaker and theorist Artavazd Pelechian, including “Land of the People“, “The Beginning“, “We, The Seasons,” and “The End“. There is something particularly appealing about encountering these films inside a festival that is also filled with premieres. TIFF becomes a place where a new film can sit down beside a film made decades ago, and both can suddenly become part of the same conversation.
That is part of what I’m looking forward to about TIFF51. I know I will arrive with lists, plans, schedules, and plenty of films I desperately want to see, and I also know the festival has a way of throwing something unexpected into the path. Wavelengths offers the chance to wander into films that may challenge how I watch, while Classics offers the pleasure of seeing remarkable films given another life on the big screen. Somewhere between the World Premieres, the North American premieres, the restorations, the experimental shorts, and the films I have not yet even heard of, another chapter of my TIFF story is waiting to be written. And with the festival still weeks away, my film energy is already beginning to get me into trouble.
2026 TIFF Classics programme (in alphabetical order)
Ken Russell’s The Devils | Ken Russell | United Kingdom |1971
North American Premiere of 4K restoration, courtesy of Warner Bros. Clockwork
Kissed | Lynne Stopkewich | Canada | 1996
World Premiere of 4K restoration, courtesy of Canadian International Pictures
Report to Mother (Amma Ariyan) | John Abraham | India | 1986
North American Premiere of 4K restoration, courtesy of Film Heritage Foundation
Spring in a Small Town (Xiao cheng zhi chun) | Fei Mu | China | 1948
World Premiere of 4K restoration, courtesy of the China Film Archive
Ten Dark Women (Kuroi jûnin no onna) | Kon Ichikawa | Japan | 1961
North American Premiere of 4K restoration, courtesy of Kadokawa Corporation
Pelechian Project
Land of the People | Artavazd Pelechian | Armenia, USSR | 1966 (10 mins.)
The Beginning | Artavazd Pelechian | Armenia, USSR | 1967 (10 mins.)
We | Artavazd Pelechian | Armenia, USSR | 1969 (27 mins.)
The Seasons | Artavazd Pelechian | Armenia, USSR | 1975 (31 mins.)
The End | Artavazd Pelechian | Armenia | 1992 (8 mins.)
North American Premiere of 4K restorations, courtesy of Coproduction Office
