TIFF Docs 2026: Thom Powers Walks Through a Lineup Spanning Musk, Rapinoe, Edward Said and Darlene Love
Toronto's chief documentary programmer, Thom Powers, laid out the 2026 TIFF Docs lineup on the latest edition of Deadline's Doc Talk podcast, offering a guided tour of a nonfiction slate that opens with a Megan Rapinoe film and closes in on a four-hour portrait of Elon Musk. The 51st Toronto International Film Festival runs 10–20 September 2026.
The Doc Talk podcast is hosted by Oscar winner John Ridley and Deadline's senior documentary editor Matt Carey, and is a production of Deadline and Ridley's Nō Studios Deadline. Powers, who has programmed TIFF's documentary section for years, used the episode to preview world premieres and flag a handful of films he considers must-sees.
Among them: Rebeca Huntt's "Rapinoe," a feature documentary on the women's soccer star Megan Rapinoe that opens the TIFF Docs 2026 program IndieWire. Alex Gibney's "Musk" — roughly four hours long and described by the festival as his most ambitious and epic work — explores the history of the world's richest man Hollywood Reporter. Powers expressed confidence about the festival taking on Musk as a subject Variety.
The lineup reaches well beyond those two headline names. "Edward Said: Between Worlds" turns to the celebrated Palestinian-born scholar and activist. "Darlene Love: I Know Where I've Been," directed by Barry Avrich, is a world premiere about the musical icon. "The Hummingbird Paints Fragrant Songs," directed by Èlia Gasull Balada and Matteo Norz, follows the career of Indigenous artist Sara Flores, who became a sensation in her 70s. "Tehran, Under the Skin," a world premiere directed by Afsaneh Salari, reveals a reality about contemporary Iranian society Deadline.
Powers also recommended two more world premieres — "Low Lies the Land" and "Rescue" — as must-see films in the program Deadline. IndieWire separately confirmed that Barbara Kopple's "Union Town" is part of the slate, alongside the Musk and Rapinoe entries IndieWire. The full TIFF Docs program covers subjects from cowgirls and wine makers to alt-country musicians TIFF.
Avrich's return to TIFF carries a bit of history. At the 2025 festival, a documentary he directed was invited to premiere, then disinvited, then reinvited — a controversy that drew press attention Deadline. His Darlene Love film gives him a fresh world premiere this year.
Powers is no stranger to managing difficult moments in the TIFF documentary section. In 2024, he moderated the Q&A at the Toronto premiere of "The Bibi Files," a documentary critical of Benjamin Netanyahu, and intervened to ask for order in the theatre Deadline. Two years earlier, Laura Poitras publicly criticised TIFF and Venice over her Hillary Clinton documentaries at the Doc Conference, where Powers was her interlocutor Deadline.
For documentary watchers, the 2026 TIFF Docs slate offers a spread of subjects and scales — from a four-hour epic about a tech billionaire to an intimate portrait of an artist who found fame late in life. The festival runs across eleven days in Toronto, with the official film schedule available in August 2026 TIFF.
