TIFF adds 26 projects including Keke Palmer and Jeremy Irons

The Toronto International Film Festival launched its first-ever financing market this week, unveiling 26 films, series and immersive projects with top-tier talent attached and a focus on underrepresented voices.

The new market is part of TIFF’s push to become a year-round hub for global content financing, not just a red-carpet showcase. It arrives as streamers cut budgets and traditional studios slow greenlights, leaving filmmakers scrambling for gap financing. TIFF is betting its brand, data tools and direct access to buyers can help projects secure the final 20-30% of budgets that often sinks independent films.

Among the projects on the slate are a new drama from Deepa Mehta, the Oscar-nominated director behind *Water* and *Fire*, attaching to *The Last Chapter*, a Partition-era story set in 1947 Punjab. Keke Palmer stars in *The Piper*, a modern retelling of the Pied Piper myth set in Detroit. Jacob Tremblay headlines *The Smallest Light*, a thriller about a child trapped in a bunker, and Jeremy Irons joins the cast of *The Palace*, a political satire from writer-director Paolo Sorrentino. Each project is paired with a breakdown of budget needs, target territories and sales agents already circling.

TIFF’s market opened with private pitch sessions and closed-door matchmaking between creators and financiers, including private equity firms, family offices and international distributors. Organizers say the goal is to close deals before the festival’s main slate is announced in July. For filmmakers, the market is a chance to bypass the crowded spring festival circuit and tap into TIFF’s growing reputation as a business-first stop. If it works, the financing market could become a permanent fixture—and a rival to Cannes’ Marché du Film or Berlin’s European Film Market.