Masc: Bertil Nilsson's debut follows Robin across a year at Toronto
Bertil Nilsson has brought his feature directorial debut, Masc, to the Toronto International Film Festival.
The film plays in Platform, the festival's competitive section for new international work. It stars Joshua Griffin in the lead role as Robin, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The running time is 1 hour 23 minutes.
The story stays with Robin across a full year. Robin is queer, biracial and on the autism spectrum, according to Deadline. That year-long structure gives the film a narrow focus on one character over time.
The screenplay is credited to Nilsson, based on a story by Nilsson and Griffin. In plain terms, the two built the story together and Nilsson wrote the script. It continues a working relationship, as Griffin previously appeared in Nilsson's short film Repair.
Griffin has also worked with theatre company Complicité, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Complicité is known for physical, ensemble-led stage work. That background sits alongside his move into a leading screen role here.
The wider ensemble includes Tega Alexander, Reece King, Ed White, Lincoln Conway and Robbie Bellekom, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Hi Ching, Barney-Joe Jones, Rocky Gharu, Jamie Quinn and David Boyle also appear. The credits list a compact cast around Griffin's central performance.
Nilsson is a Britain-based Swedish director. Festival materials describe him as a London-based artist and note that he drew on his own experiences as a neurodivergent gay man for Masc, according to TIFF. Coverage of the Platform presentation was published on 18 September 2026.
For people coming to this fresh, this is a short debut built around one person. A first feature means a director's first full-length cinema film. At 83 minutes, Masc runs shorter than many festival titles, which keeps attention on Robin's daily life across the seasons.
