'Neil Peart: No One's Disciple' set to debut at Toronto film fest
'Neil Peart: No One's Disciple' set to debut at Toronto film fest
Published Aug 12, 2026 • Last updated 19 hours ago • 4 minute read
Neil Peart plays with his band Rush at Budweiser Gardens on Sept. 12, 2007. Photo by Derek Ruttan /London Free PressSee more Toronto Sun on Google — save as a Preferred Source
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A documentary on late Rush drummer Neil Peart is set to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival next month.
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Neil Peart: No One’s Disciple, which will air on CBC, will have its world premiere at the festival on Sept. 16 at the Princess of Wales Theatre.
The film will feature Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson revisiting some of Rush’s greatest songs with four of Peart’s musical “brothers” taking on his legendary drum parts, including The Police’s Stewart Copeland, Tool’s Danny Carey, Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Gavin Harrison of Porcupine Tree and King Crimson.
“That Peart’s parts are so challenging even for such revered players says a lot about the ingenuity and dexterity he brought to Rush’s music,” TIFF programmer Jason Anderson says in a statement.
Directed by Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn, the film will feature “remembrances and anecdotes” to help paint a portrait of the enigmatic drummer and lyricist, who died in 2020 after a battle with brain cancer following a four-decade run with the Canadian power trio.
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The doc will also examine Peart’s own grief journey following the devastating loss of his daughter and wife in the late 1990s.
Drummer Neil Peart performs during a Rush concert at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Wednesday, July 15, 2015. Photo by Lyle Aspinall /Calgary SunThe premiere comes as Rush celebrates their 50th anniversary this year with new drummer Anika Nilles filling in for Peart on a North American tour.
The band is in the midst of a four-night stand in their hometown of Toronto with cameras rolling at each of the shows for inclusion in a possible concert film.
Other Canadian stops on their 50 Something Tour include Montreal, Edmonton and Vancouver.
In the years following Peart’s death, Lifeson and Lee had seemingly turned the page on Rush.
But in an interview with Postmedia last year, Lifeson said that he and Lee would often jam together and dip into songs from Rush’s vast catalogue.
It was during those casual musical get-togethers that he realized just how hard Rush’s music was to play.
“When you’re doing it every day, you don’t think about it. Now I realize how complex the arrangements are,” he said at the time. “It’s eye-opening for sure. Sometimes we just play goofy songs from our past.”
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“Alex and I have done some serious soul searching and come to the decision that we f***ing miss it,” Lee proudly proclaimed in a statement announcing the tour last fall.
‘Heated Rivalry’ star to speak at film festIn addition to the Peart documentary, TIFF also announced that Heated Rivalry breakout star Hudson Williams will take part in its In Conversation With… series.
Williams, the Kelowna, B.C.-born actor who plays Shane Hollander on the hit hockey drama, is at the festival to debut the new Crave series Yaga.
The conversation is part of the fest’s Next Wave initiative and will explore the “cinematic and cultural inspirations” that helped shape Williams’ artistic approach.
Canadian actor Hudson Williams attends the 98th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on March 15, 2026. Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN /AFP via Getty ImagesChris Rock and Andrew Scott will also take the stage to talk about their latest projects.
Rachel Morrison, the first female cinematographer to be nominated for an Oscar, will also be on hand to discuss her sophomore feature, Love of Your Life, which stars Margaret Qualley and Aaron Pierre.
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The festival also revealed its final wave of films, including the Canadian premiere of Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine, which follows a pair of CIA agents (John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell) with a history of meddling in global events.
The 2026 edition of the film fest kicks off Sept. 10 with Academy Award winner Sian Heder’s big screen adaptation of Judy Heumann’s bestselling memoir Being Heumann.
‘People love movies here’Since 2005, 15 films that have screened for Canadian audiences first at TIFF have gone on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, including last year’s winner, Anora.
“People love movies here, but it’s not a snobbish film audience,” Cameron Bailey, CEO of TIFF, tells Postmedia.
The festival will also feature the world premiere of a biopic about the making of Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky.
Friends star Courteney Cox explores the true-crime story of the infamous “pizza bomber” case in Evil Genius.
Toronto will also unveil Jesse Eisenberg’s The Debut, his follow-up to 2024’s Oscar-winning A Real Pain.
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Danny Boyle’s Ink will also make its North American premiere in Toronto. The film, which is set to open the Venice International Film Festival, stars Guy Pearce as Rupert Murdoch and charts the rise of the U.K.’s Sun newspaper.
The festival will close out its 10-day run with Villeneuve: The Rise of a Legend, a sports drama following the early years of Canadian Formula One driver Gilles Villeneuve.
The Toronto Film Festival runs Sept. 10 to 20.
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