Spanish drama Sisters sets Sept. 15 world premiere in Toronto Discovery
Spain's Sisters (Hermanas), starring Elena Anaya and Emma Suárez, will get its first public screening on Sept. 15 in the Discovery line-up at the Toronto International Film Festival, Variety reported on Sept. 12.
The festival runs Sept. 10-20, which puts the Sept. 15 date in the middle of this year's edition, according to the same report. A world premiere means no audience has seen the film anywhere before. That slot matters. It is the launch.
Sisters is written and directed by Ione Hernández Sáenz, Variety reported. It is a Spanish film led by Anaya and Suárez, two actors well known to international festival audiences. The film is Hernández Sáenz's fiction debut, according to its festival listing, after work in documentary.
Discovery is Toronto's section for early-career directors, a sidebar for first and second features looking for buyers, press and festival bookings. The 2026 programme is presented by Air France, according to Toronto's announcement.
Sales outside Spain are handled by Be For Films, Variety reported. In plain terms, an international sales company sells a film's distribution rights territory by territory. Pamela Leu is chief executive and head of sales at the company.
Be For Films came on board ahead of Toronto, in a deal Variety exclusively reported on Aug. 6. Festival premieres and sales announcements often move together. A Toronto slot gives a sales agent a full house and a date to take to buyers.
The film is produced by Noesno Film Aie, Solita Films, Gariza Films, Elastica Films and ISB Films, Variety reported. Multi-company credits of this kind are common in Spanish independent production, where several producers share finance and production duties.
The project has been in the works for several years. Back in 2022, Anaya and Suárez were in talks to star in Hernández's Sisters, Variety reported at the time from the Malaga festival's industry strand. That early item was about casting talks, not a signed deal.
What makes this stand out for festival watchers is the path. A long development, a new fiction director, two established leads, then a Discovery premiere with a sales company already attached. For audiences in Toronto, it means the Sept. 15 screening will be the first chance to see how that combination plays on screen.
