The Toronto International Film Festival is officially underway, and Latin American cinema has a strong presence at this year’s celebration.

Running from September 10 to 20, TIFF 2026 features films and talent connected to Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama and beyond. Familiar names including Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna, Ricky Martin and Lali Espósito are also part of the festival lineup.

One of the most anticipated Latin titles is Hombre al agua, directed and co-written by Mexican actor and filmmaker Gael García Bernal. The comedy follows Camilo, a Cuban lifeguard whose life unexpectedly changes after he saves a Mexican businessman. García Bernal also stars in the film alongside Puerto Rican superstar Ricky Martin, Natalia Oreiro and Esmeralda Pimentel.

Diego Luna returns to the director’s chair with Ceniza en la boca, an adaptation of Brenda Navarro’s acclaimed novel. The story follows Lucila, a young woman who leaves Mexico with her younger brother to reunite with their mother in Madrid, only to encounter a much more difficult reality than expected.

Mexico is especially well represented at TIFF this year. According to the Mexican Film Institute, six Mexican feature films were selected for the 2026 festival.

That list also includes Moscas, directed by Fernando Eimbcke. The film centres on a woman whose carefully controlled life changes when she rents out a room and discovers that her new tenant has also brought along his young son.

Soy Mario, directed by Sharon Kleinberg, follows a transgender taxi driver who becomes pregnant and finally has the opportunity to fulfil his dream of becoming a father. The experience forces him to confront his own ideas about masculinity and the expectations placed upon him by society.

Mexican-Canadian filmmaker Nicolás Pereda is also at TIFF with Lo demás es ruido, a dry comedy involving three women connected to the world of classical music and an interview that becomes far more complicated than expected.

Argentina has several notable connections to this year’s festival. Singer and actress Lali Espósito stars in Glaxo, a drama set in Chivilcoy that explores friendship, memory and the return of a painful past.

Argentine filmmaker Lisandro Alonso presents La libertad doble, while the festival’s Wavelengths section includes the extraordinarily ambitious Biografía de Jorge Luis Borges. At approximately five and a half hours, the project examines the writings, influences and life of one of Latin America’s most important literary figures.

Colombian stories are also receiving attention. Donde comienza el río, a co-production between Canada, Colombia and Norway, follows an Emberá woman living with her daughter in a violent Bogotá neighbourhood while dreaming of returning to the forest she left behind.

El bovino de los cuernos curvos tells the story of a young boy searching for his missing father in a Colombian landscape where mythology and violence exist side by side.

Después de Elena, a co-production involving Chile and Colombia, brings together four relatives following the death of their family matriarch. Their reunion forces them to confront decades of silence, resentment and unresolved history.

Another major regional collaboration is Amor es el monstruo, produced across Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, Chile and Mexico. Set in a dystopian world marked by inequality, the film follows a grandmother determined to make the most of the time she has left with her granddaughter.

Guatemala is represented through Nosotros, the story of a 23-year-old Indigenous man who flees gang extortion in his community and finds work as a security guard at a shopping centre.

From internationally recognized stars to emerging filmmakers and powerful Indigenous stories, TIFF 2026 is giving Toronto audiences plenty of opportunities to experience Latin American cinema on the big screen.

For screening times and ticket availability, visit the official TIFF 2026 ticket page.