FOCUS ON NORTH MACEDONIA & LIFE IS SHORT: SWISS FILMS

This year, TIFF 2026 brings together two special programmes that look at humanity through very different cinematic perspectives.

FOCUS ON NORTH MACEDONIA

TIFF spotlights contemporary cinema from North Macedonia with five films exploring faith, family, morality, identity and human dignity:

Mother by Teona Strugar Mitevska | Belgium, North Macedonia | 2025 | 104′ | Drama, Biopic
Good People by Milcho Manchevski | North Macedonia | 2025 | 85′ | Documentary
Iron Castle by Mitko K. Panov | North Macedonia, Switzerland, USA | 2025 | 105′ | Docufiction
Dogs Have No Dreams by Hanis Bagashov | North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Slovenia | 2026 | 14′ | Fiction
Antigona by Ibër Deari, Mirsad Abazi | North Macedonia | 2025 | 21′ | Documentary

The programme is accompanied by two industry masterclasses:

CASE STUDY OF MOTHER with Labina Mitevska
22 September | 11:00 | Villa 31 × Art Explora

INTO DIRECTING with Teona Strugar Mitevska
23 September | 11:00 | Villa 31 × Art Explora

LIFE IS SHORT SWISS FILMS

A journey into the heart of Swiss short cinema, where every film offers a different perspective on humanity, memory, imagination and the world around us.

Fulesee by Christina Benz | Switzerland | 2020 | 4′ | Animation
Greylands by Charlotte Waltert, Alvaro Schoeck | Switzerland | 2023 | 12′ | Animation
In a Nutshell by Fabio Friedli | Switzerland | 2017 | 5′ | Animation
Intimity by Élodie Dermange | Switzerland | 2017 | 5′ | Animation
Matta and Matto by Bianca Caderas, Kerstin Zemp | Switzerland | 2023 | 10′ | Animation
Only a Child by Simone Giampaolo | Switzerland | 2020 | 6′ | Documentary, Animation
Schächer by Flurin Giger | Switzerland | 2018 | 30′ | Fiction
The Gap by Keerthigan Sivakumar | Switzerland | 2024 | 15′ | Fiction
The Lonely Orbit by Frederic Siegel, Benjamin Morard | Switzerland | 2019 | 10′ | Animation
The Newt Congress by Matthias Sahli, Immanuel Esser | Switzerland | 2022 | 16′ | Fiction
Why Slugs Have No Legs by Aline Höchli | Switzerland | 2019 | 10′ | Animation

HUMANOGRAPHY is the ability to discover an entire human universe within just a few minutes of cinema.