Toronto Ukrainian Film Festival 2026 Line-up Is Here
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
Sanatorium
Thursday, April 16 • 7 PM
On the shores of Odesa in Southern Ukraine lies the imposing Kuyalnik Sanatorium, a crumbling Soviet era health facility that's seen better days. Join us over a summer season where the ever-dwindling guests come for the rejuvenating mud treatments and strange electroshock therapies, in search of love, healing and happiness.
Cuba and Alaska
Friday, April 17 • 6:30 PM
A raw and intimate profile of two Ukrainian Medics from the frontlines of the war, CUBA & ALASKA captures the funny, the arcane, the painfully tragic and surprisingly warm healing that make up a soldier’s emotional journey during wartime. Body cams, cell phones, and the interviewer’s camera fill in the story between the constant danger, bouts of survivors’ guilt, and a longing to ‘go back’ –to return to the life they had when dreams were still possible. Fueled by the enormously contagious laughter from Cuba, and the dark black humor of Alaska, the two best friends face down the unknown together with a warrior fierceness befitting Thelma & Louise.
The Fatigued (2025)
Friday, April 17, 2026 | 9:30 PM
Liuba and Andrii, two war veterans, seek solace and healing in each other’s company. As they navigate the aftermath of trauma, their growing connection offers a glimmer of hope for renewal. But in a world marked by indifference and internal battles, their bond is pushed to its breaking point.
TUFF 2026 - Short Films Program
Saturday, April 18 | 1 pm
IT’S A DATE by Nadia Parfan
DREAMTRACKS by Margaryta Winkler
THOUGHTS ON PEACE IN AN AIR RAID by Vyacheslav Turyanytsya
ROOTS by Liliya Syvytska
OFF-TIME by Nata Metlukh
THE BORDER AT TOLSTOI by Bob Kotyk
LIFE IN BETWEEN by Iryna Lytvynova
PRELUDE by Alina Panasenko
Militantropolis
Saturday, April 18 | 5 PM
MILITANTROPOS captures the human condition through the fractured realities of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The film pieces together everyday lives transformed by war — those who flee, those who lose everything, and those who stay to resist and fight — tracing both the instinct to survive and the need for closeness. Amid devastation and atrocity, the human is absorbed into war — and war, in turn, becomes part of the human.
Do You Love Me?
Saturday, April 18, 2026 | 8:30 PM
Kira is living her life with the teenage confidence that the world revolves around her. Born and raised in the late Soviet Ukraine, she sees her life predictable and clear. But it doesn't last long. Suddenly, she discovers that her father has a mistress, and her mother knows about it but prefers to remain silent. As Kira's family begins to fall apart -and so does the Soviet State- everything she knew turns out to be an illusion. Kira is searching for love, warmth, and hope for the future, going down a dark path she could not foresee.
To The Victory! (2025)
Sunday, April 19, 2026 | 1 PM
In post-war Ukraine, frustrated film director Roman (Valentyn Vasyanovych) struggles to rebuild his life after the war leaves him without a career and separated from his wife (Marianna Novikova) and young daughter, who remain in Vienna. Living in Kyiv with his 18-year-old son (Hryhoriy Naumov), Roman clings to the belief that the hard times will eventually pass, even as he grapples with loneliness, regret, and an uncertain future.
Flowers of Ukraine (2024)
Sunday, April 19, 2026 | 4:30 PM
A strong, independent and anarchist woman full of humor sets out to protect her piece of land against all odds. Initially fighting off developers, Natalia's struggle becomes even more existential with Russia's attack on Ukraine. The film is a portrait of a woman who never gives up and brings to the viewers a sense of hope.
