The 14th annual Toronto Black Film Festival celebrates 30 years of Black History Month with bold, diverse, innovative and meaningful programming from February 11-16 2026
The Toronto Black Film Festival (TBFF), presented by TD Bank Group (TD) in collaboration with Global News, announces the official program and event lineup for its 14th annual edition running February 11 – 16, 2026. Founded by the Fabienne Colas Foundation, the Toronto Black Film Festival will offer up its usual diversified, impactful and captivating program to Toronto audiences both in-person and online.
OPENING NIGHT GALA
Presented by TD Bank Group
Isabel Bader Theatre – February 11 at 7:30 pm
Preceding the opening film screening – powered by TD Bank Group – the Festival is honored to present iconic filmmaker Stanley Nelson, the foremost chronicler of the African American experience working in nonfiction film today, and recipient of a 2013 National Humanities Medal from President Barack Obama, with the Toronto Black Film Festival’s 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award. Past Lifetime Achievement Award recipients who have received this award in-person in Toronto includefilm icons Pam Grier and Spike Lee.
Stanley Nelson is a documentary filmmaker, writer, and producer based in Harlem and renowned for his deeply researched films on African American culture. Nelson’s film, Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool (2019), the definitive look at the life and career of iconic musician Miles Davis, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2019. The screening marked Nelson’s tenth premiere at the prestigious festival in twenty years, the most premieres of any documentary filmmaker.
His latest film WE WANT THE FUNK! (2025) is a syncopated voyage through the history of funk music, spanning from African, soul, and early jazz roots to its rise into the public consciousness. Featuring James Brown’s dynamism, the extraterrestrial funk of George Clinton’s Parliament Funkadelic, transformed girl group Labelle, and Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat, the story also traces funk’s influences on both new wave and hip-hop. Since 1998, Nelson has helped lead Firelight Media, a New York–based nonprofit he co-founded with Marcia A. Smith, dedicated to supporting emerging documentarians of color through programs such as the Documentary Lab.
This year’s festival also marks the return of the Live Music Series showcasing DJs, music and spoken word. Musicians include Charmie, Rudy Ray, Joseph Callender, and Mel Dubé. Spoken Word artists include Shahaddah Jack, and The Wild Woman.
For more information: https://torontoblackfilm.com/