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TUFF 2026 marks four years of bringing Ukrainian cinema to Toronto.This April, we return to The Royal Cinema with seven features and eight shorts drawn from Cannes, TIFF, Rome, and festivals across Europe. Highlights include Militantropos (Cannes Director's Fortnight), Valentyn Vasyanovych's To the Victory (TIFF Platform Award), and Adelina Borets' Flowers of Ukraine (Grand Prix, Créteil). Rounding out the program: a portrait of two frontline medics finding dark humour in war (Cuba and Alaska), a haunting Soviet-era health resort (Sanatorium), two veterans rebuilding their lives (The Fatigued), and a coming-of-age story set in late Soviet Ukraine (Do You Love Me?).
New this year: a dedicated short film section — eight films, programmed for the first time in TUFF's history.
Since 2023, TUFF has raised over $75,000 for humanitarian aid. Every ticket counts.
Individual tickets $25 → tuff.film
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Toronto Ukrainian Film Festival 2026 Line-up:
• Sanatorium, directed by Gar O’Rourke (Documentary) — A visually alluring portrait of a Soviet-era health resort where visitors seek healing and meaning through ritual. Winner: Best Irish Feature Documentary, Galway Film Fleadh; nominee, CPH:DOX.
• Cuba and Alaska, directed by Yegor Troyanovsky (Documentary) — An intimate portrait of two Ukrainian frontline medics whose dark humor and friendship sustain them amid the trauma of war. Winner: Best Documentary, Rome Film Fest.
• The Fatigued, directed by Yuriy Dunay (Drama) — Two war veterans living with physical injuries and PTSD struggle to rebuild their lives and find hope in each other. Winner: Grand Prix (Scythian Deer), Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival.
• Militantropos, directed by Yelizaveta Smith, Alina Gorlova and Simon Mozgovyi (Documentary) — A visually striking exploration of how war permeates everyday civilian life in Ukraine. Official Selection: Director’s Fortnight, Cannes Film Festival.
• Do You Love Me?, directed by Tonya Noyabrova (Drama) — In late Soviet Ukraine, a teenage girl’s certainty about the world begins to unravel. Winner: Best Actress, Ukrainian Film Critics Awards.
• To the Victory, directed by Valentyn Vasyanovych (Docu-Drama) — In postwar Kyiv, a filmmaker struggles with separation from his family and the emotional aftermath of war. Winner: Platform Award, Toronto International Film Festival.
• Flowers of Ukraine, directed by Adelina Borets (Documentary) — A fiercely independent Kyiv woman defends her home against developers and later Russia’s invasion. Winner: Grand Prix Best Documentary & Audience Award, Créteil International Women’s Film Festival.
Responding to the growing urgency and volume of Ukrainian cinematic work, TUFF 2026 also marks a major expansion of programming with the introduction of a dedicated short film section, presented for the first time in the festival’s history, programmed by Nataliya Bek-Gergard. The inaugural shorts lineup includes award-winning films:
It’s a Date (Nadia Parfan), Dreamtracks (Margaryta Winkler), Thoughts on Peace in an Air Raid (Vyacheslav Turyanytsya), Roots (Liliya Syvytska), OFF-Time (Nata Metlukh), The Border at Tolstoi (Bob Kotyk), Life in Between (Iryna Lytvynova), and Prelude (Alina Panasenko).
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Event Venue
The Royal Cinema - Toronto, 608 College Street,Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Tickets
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