Published: : August 5, 2026, 08:45 PM
Bangladeshi filmmaker Rubaiyat Hossain’s latest feature, The Difficult Bride, has been officially selected for the 51st Toronto International Film Festival, where it will be presented in the Centrepiece programme as a North American premiere. The festival will run from September 10 to 20, 2026.
The selection follows the film’s inclusion in the Orizzonti competition at the upcoming 83rd Venice International Film Festival. Directed by Hossain, the 87-minute psychological horror film is an international co-production involving France, Bangladesh, Portugal, Norway and Germany.
Set in contemporary Dhaka, the film follows a bride-to-be preparing for her dream wedding. As beauty rituals, family pressure and social expectations intensify, she begins to lose control of her body and encounters unsettling supernatural forces. The story explores beauty, marriage, womanhood and the struggle for personal freedom.
Newcomer Zaineen Chowdhury Karim leads the cast, alongside Rikita Nondine Shimu, Sunerah Binte Kamal, Azmeri Haque Badhan, Dameer Khan, Saberi Alam, Shatabdi Wadud and Mohammed Bari.
The Difficult Bride will have three TIFF screenings: September 16 at 4:00 pm, September 17 at 10:00 pm and September 19 at 12:15 pm. The first two screenings will take place at TIFF Lightbox Cinema 4, while the final screening will be held at Scotiabank Theatre, Cinema 7.
