DRIFTWOOD Short Film to Premiere in TIFF26 Short Cuts 5 Programme

Michal Heuston at Ink Cap Media Inc. and Emmett McCourt at Vicarious Playground Productions have announced that their short film, a trans waterfront escape, DRIFTWOOD, about a trans man who enlists his best friend for an adventure on the Toronto Islands in an attempt to recover a piece of himself, will have its world premiere in the Short Cuts 5 Programme at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival.

DRIFTWOOD is written and directed by A.C. Birch (A Queer's Guide to Spiritual Living (for OUTtv: The Queer Devotional), Bear Night, Boygirl) and stars A.C. Birch, making his screen debut, Breton Lalama (Really Happy Someday (TIFF '24, Crave), Slasher (Shudder), Law and Order: Toronto (CityTV), The Madness (Netflix)), and Adrian Rebucas (Workin' Moms (CBC), Special Correspondents (Netflix), Man Seeking Woman (FXX), Skymed (Paramount). It was produced by A.C. Birch, Emmett McCourt (Home Again, Discretion, Disclosure) and Michal Heuston (A Queer's Guide to Spiritual Living (for OUTtv: The Queer Devotional), Boygirl, The Pigeon King (CBC).

The film was shot in the City of Toronto and on the Toronto Islands.

Scrambling to leave the apartment of a bad hookup, trans man Tyler (A.C. Birch) fails to notice that he's left his packer behind. He wakes up the next morning in the bed of his best friend and fellow transfag, CJ (Breton Lalama). Their groggy heatwave morning is interrupted by a text from the hookup: would Tyler like to come back and pick up his dick? Instead of addressing that question, the boys find themselves on a ferry to the Toronto Islands. Wandering around Hanlan's Point in their underwear they begin to collect driftwood, sizing up the pieces and comparing them to the size of appendage they might be interested in if they were ever to get phalloplasty. Despite the obvious euphoria they experience at the idea of having a dick, neither boy can bring themselves to fully admit that this is something they desire. When it comes time to throw the sticks in the water and head home, Tyler finds he can't quite let go of his. They build an altar for it instead and anoint each other against the night skyline. On the ferry ride home, the looming towers of the city remind the boys that they can't outrun the things they're afraid to address forever.

'The majority of Driftwood takes place over one day on the Toronto Islands, so it's especially meaningful to have our world premiere here at home, and at TIFF no less. I am so honoured to be included in this year's cohort of Canadian filmmakers. At its core, the film is about the kind of intimacy in which you are fully seen by someone you love. It catches Tyler, the main character, at a moment of nakedness and disconnection, and there is no neat and tidy resolution, but none is needed, because he is able to turn to CJ who sees him for everything that he is. It was inspired by my friendship with the film's co-star, Breton Lalama, and the bonds I share with other gay, trans men. I wanted to create a film in which the wholeness of these characters can be seen by audiences, in the same way Tyler is seen by CJ, and I am seen by Breton.' said A.C. Birch.

Cinematography by Kurtis Watson (My Dad's Tapes (TVO), Nowhere Ontario, Love Undivided), production design by Leo Dean (Punk'd Pooch, Boygirl, Run from It), editing by Olive Reed (Unlabelled, Longing, Stranding) and sound design by Jesse Lawrence (Boygirl, Cows Come Home (Bell Fibe), Priscilla (A24).

DRIFTWOOD is a true Canadian microbudget film supported by just $1,500 in crowdfunding. Post-production was completed with the assistance of the National Film Board of Canada Filmmaker Assistance Program.

Screenings

Premiere: Monday, Sept 14 11:30 AM Scotiabank 11

2nd Public: Friday, Sept 18 2:45 PM Scotiabank 9

P&I: Monday, Sept 14 8:55 AM Scotiabank 8

About A.C. Birch (Director, Writer, Co-Producer, Lead)

A.C. Birch is a comedian, writer, and filmmaker based in Toronto. DRIFTWOOD is his first narrative project and his performing debut. His past work includes co-directing the feature doc, A Queer's Guide to Spiritual Living (Inside Out 2023), directing the short doc, Leaving Vernon (Yorkton Film Fest 2018), and producing the experimental short, Boygirl (Inside Out 2026). A.C.'s work centres on nuanced, heartfelt, and exciting explorations of queer and trans life. He was one of nine inaugural participants in Spindle Film Foundation's mentorship program for trans and gender diverse writer/directors and has since gone on to work as the program lead for the Trans Film Mentorship and host the annual Trans Film Summit at TIFF. In 2026, A.C.'s solo sketch show, Alter Boy, was programmed at the Toronto and Montreal Sketchfests. In 2024, he produced a sold-out staged reading of his original regency-era romcom at The Second City, featuring a cast of Toronto's most beloved trans and queer comics, to rave reviews. His awards include 'Best Newcomer' at Sketch To The Death 2025, 'Best Writing – Category Romance' by IndieX Film Fest, and 'Most Improved – Category Hotness' by friends who knew him in high school.

About Michal Heuston (Co-producer)

Michal Heuston (they/them) is a multifaceted filmmaker in Toronto with a specialty in post-production. Their debut documentary feature A Queer's Guide to Spiritual Living premiered at the Inside Out Film Festival in 2023, and this year they premiered a short experimental animated doc called Boygirl, that reveals the emotionally imaginative experiences of a genderqueer childhood. Michal also collaborates with Big Cedar Films as a producer, and this fall will be in production on a TVO documentary about teens competitively showing dairy cows, while releasing a true crime TV hour for CBC's Passionate Eye entitled The Pigeon King with recreations starring Mark McKinney and Kathleen Munroe. Some of Michal's editing and post-production credits include CBC Gem's award-winning Farm Crime, Lido TV, The Knowing – a four part CBC docuseries adapted from Tanya Talaga's bestselling book, TVO's Your Tomorrow which premiered at TIFF in 2024, BODY SO FLUORESCENT starring Amanda Cordner and Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah, Bell Fibe's comedy docseries B.A. Johnston's HamJam, and Hot Docs 2020 audience choice award-recipient Nancy's Workshop for which Michal was also nominated for Best Editing at the New Filmmakers LA Awards in 2020. In their downtime they're one of the organizers at Queer in Post, or hiking!

About Emmett McCourt (Co-Producer)

Emmett Siobhan McCourt is an award-winning genderfluid actor, producer, writer and stage-combatant. Producing credits include Home Again (indieFEST 2021-Award of Excellence Special Mention), Discretion (co-prod) and Disclosure (assist-prod) - both sponsored by Netflix's partnership with imagineNATIVE Film Festival through the Creative Equity fund. Screen acting credits include: Reacher (Prime/Paramount/MGM), The Umbrella Academy (Netflix), Kim's Convenience (CBC), and Home Again (Best [Performer] - LGBTQ Short- indieFEST). Emmett has served as interim chair of outACTRAto, where he initiated the joint ACTRA/SAG-AFTRA push for IMDb to update their pronoun options, and spearheaded the first Working the Scene in Rainbow initiative (based on Jessica Meya and Louis Taylor's Working the Scene in Colour).

Photo Credit: Kurtis Watson

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