2026 TIFF: Siân Heder’s ‘Being Heumann’ Selected as TIFF Opener

We have a trio of Gala Presentation offerings to announce. Best Picture winning director of Coda will see her follow up feature open and world premiere the 51st edition of the Toronto Intl. Film Festival – this clears it off the deck for what some thought might be a Telluride or Venice showing. Based on an adaptation of the bestselling memoir, Siân Heder‘s Being Heumann is story of Judy Heumann, a disability activist who led a 28-day sit-in at the San Francisco Federal Building in 1977 (the production was shot in Toronto). Ruth Madeley stars, with a supporting cast that includes Mark Ruffalo and Dylan O’Brien. The Apple Original Films is a Gala Presentation. Susanna White‘s Prima Facie is adapted by Suzie Miller from her 2019 stage play — this stars Cynthia Erivo as Tessa (see pic above) who has risen from a working class background to be a confident and successful defence barrister. One evening, everything changes. Finally, The Assassin(s) by South Korea’s Hur Jin-ho is based on the real-life assassination of Yuk Young-soo (Madame Park Chung-hee) during a Gwangbokjeol event on August 15, 1974, and narrates the discrepancy between the number of gunshots at the scene and the official record. IONCINEMA.com will be at TIFF to cover the festival.