Dates Announced for Romania's 'Ice Man'Tibi Uşeriu & Family in Toronto at the World Premiere of THE ULTRA RUNNER Documentary @ TIFF 2026
THE ULTRA RUNNER
DOCUMENTARY | 98 MINS | CANADA | 2026
A Film by Emmy & Sundance Award Winner Mila Aung-Thwin
WORLD PREMIERE
Friday, September 11 @ 5:30 PM
Toronto International Film Festival 2026
TIFF Lightbox 3
POST-SCREENING Q&A
Director Mila Aung-Thwin, Film Subjects Tibi Ușeriu & Alin Ușeriu, and Other Members of the Cast & Crew
Canadian Theatrical Release Spring 2027
The Ultra Runner
TIFF 2026
Screening Schedule
PUBLIC
• 11 SEP @ 05:30 PM | TIFF Lightbox 3 **WORLD PREMIERE** (1)
• 12 SEP @ 09:35 PM | Scotiabank Theatre 8 (2)
• 19 SEP @ 09:15 AM | Scotiabank Theatre 3
PRESS & MARKET
• 12 SEP @ 09:10 AM | Scotiabank Theatre 9
• 17 SEP @ 11:30 AM | Scotiabank Theatre 5
Tickets on sale from August 31 at:
www.tiff.net/films/the-ultra-runner
(1) Q&A with Director Mila Aung-Thwin, Film Subjects Tibi Ușeriu & Alin Ușeriu, and Other Members of the Cast & Crew
(2) Q&A with Director Mila Aung-Thwin and Film Subjects Tibi Ușeriu & Alin Ușeriu
The Ultra Runner, the story of Romanian ultramarathoner Tibi Ușeriu, will have its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on Friday, September 11, 2026 at TIFF Lightbox (Cinema 3)—with additional public screenings on September 12 and 19. Driven by a violent past and hardened by years of crime and incarceration, the film follows Tibi as he battles endless terrain and his own demons in search of a better life for his family, his country, and himself.
Directed by multiple award winning (Sundance, Emmys, CSAs) Canadian filmmaker Mila Aung-Thwin, and produced by Montreal's EYESTEELFILM and Ontario based production house winterhouse pictures, the feature-length documentary is presented as part of the TIFF Docs 2026 programme. Tibi Ușeriu & Alin Ușeriu will fly in from Romania to join the creative team for the post-screening Q&As.
The film is then set to be released in theatres across Canada in Spring 2027.
www.theultrarunnerfilm.com
SYNOPSIS
After spending a decade locked inside a high-security prison, Tibi Ușeriu steps into freedom and begins running. The Ultra Runner moves with Tibi across the dark forests of Transylvania, the Arctic’s frozen emptiness, and the towering brutality of the Italian Alps. As he pushes against the limits of ultramarathon racing, his body breaks down and his past resurfaces. Abuse. Violence. A life built on self-destruction. Supported by his brother Alin and his partner Mihaela, Tibi pushes forward, confronting the elements, exhaustion, and memory. What begins as an escape becomes something more dangerous: a confrontation between who he was and who he is trying to become.
CHARACTER BIOS
Tibi Ușeriu | Ultra Runner & Via Transilvanica Ambassador
Tibi Ușeriu was one of the millions of Romanians who fled the country after the revolution in 1989. He met the wrong people and ended up serving time for most of his young years. When he was finally free and returned to Romania, his brother Alin had already made the Tășuleasa Social NGO, built on the grounds of the family property in the countryside. Tibi is an example of reintegration and found running as his outlet for a sense of liberation. He has won 4 Arctic competitions, with more than 3,000 km ran and wrote an autobiographical book called 27 Steps where he tells his story. The book became a bestseller in Romania and helped kickstart the initiation of Via Transilvanica. Tibi also became a father to a son named David and now he focuses on spending time with him, mostly in nature.
Alin Ușeriu | President of the Tășuleasa Social Association & Initiator of Via Transilvanica
Alin Ușeriu is the President and Founder of the Tășuleasa Social Association, a Romanian organization through which, for more than 26 years, he has mobilized hundreds of thousands of volunteers and helped shape entire generations in the spirit of civic engagement and responsibility. As the initiator of the Via Transilvanica project in 2018, he oversaw the development of a trail stretching more than 1,600 kilometres across Romania, with the goal of reaching all of the country’s historical regions over the next 20 years. Through his long-term vision, inspired in part by his professional experience in Germany, Alin continues to contribute to a project that seeks to bring people together, support local communities, and redefine tourism in Romania by encouraging slow, mindful travel on foot. He lives in the Romanian countryside, in the mountains, together with his brother, Tibi.
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
"From the outside, an ultramarathon can look strangely simple: one body crossing a hostile landscape. Pushing forward through snow, darkness, exhaustion, and silence. What drew me to the subject was the motivation to push beyond the limits of the human body. But when I met Tibi Uşeriu I realized this was not really a physical test, but a mental one. When he started running, he would simply disappear into himself.
Tibi’s life contains several lives that seem impossible to reconcile: a childhood marked by violence and deprivation, escape from communist Romania, years in the criminal underworld, armed robberies, prison, and then, improbably, endurance running. He has described running as the force that helped him rebuild himself.
The challenge was how to film an interior landscape. In the Arctic, the white emptiness became more than a setting; it became a mirror. The silence, repetition, cold, and isolation allowed Tibi’s past to surface not as explanation, but as sensation. The film moves between physical endurance and memory, between the visible body and the invisible burden it carries.
For me, this was not really a film about sport. It was about an internal struggle with survival, guilt, willpower, family, and the strange human capacity to reshape a life without ever fully escaping it." – Mila Aung-Thwin
ABOUT THE TEAM
Mila Aung-Thwin | Director
Mila Aung-Thwin is a Burmese-Canadian director, producer, editor, and co-founder of Montreal’s EYESTEELFILM. Across dozens of feature documentaries, he has helped shape internationally acclaimed nonfiction cinema, including the Emmy-winning Last Train Home, Up the Yangtze, Midwives (Sundance Special Jury Prize: Excellence in Vérité Filmmaking), and Softie, for which he shared a Sundance Special Jury Award for Editing. He directed, produced, and edited Let There Be Light, a cinematic investigation into the quest for fusion energy. A member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and past president of RIDM, Aung-Thwin is also a committed mentor to emerging documentary filmmakers in Canada and internationally.
Bob Moore | Producer
Bob Moore is Co-President and Creative Producer at EYESTEELFILM in Montreal where he has produced over 40 feature documentaries since 2008, including Blink (Daniel Roher, Edmund Stenson, 2024), Yintah (Michael Toledano, Jennifer Wickham, Brenda Michell, 2024), Twice Colonized (Lin Alluna, 2023), Midwives (Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing, 2022), Last Train Home (Lixin Fan, 2009), Forest of the Dancing Spirits (Linda Vastrik, 2013), I am The Blues (Daniel Cross, 2015), Let There Be Light (Mila Aung-Thwin, 2017). and Tokyo Idols (Kyoko Miyake, 2017).
Together with his talented partners and collaborators, he has been the recipient of over 100 international awards, including Emmys, Cinema Eyes, Golden Horses, Owls, Phoenixes, and a variety of other celebratory animal-themed prizes. He’s been the subject of a Producer’s Spotlight at the Cannes Marché du Film, an advisor at the Sundance Creative Producing Lab, and generally enjoys working with and mentoring emerging filmmakers. He is the 2020 recipient of the Don Haig Award, and sits on the Executive Committee of the Documentary Branch of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).
Mike MacMillan | Producer
Mike MacMillan is a producer, writer, and co-founder of winterhouse pictures, a feature film company. His work has screened at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Berlinale, Cannes, and other leading festivals, with productions spanning Canada, the U.S., and Europe. He was named to Screen International's Future Leaders list. Through winterhouse, he develops, finances, and produces premium feature films for the international market.
Van Royko | Director of Photography
Van Royko, CSC is an award-winning cinematographer and documentary director from Montreal, QC. Known for his cinematography on feature documentaries Monsoon and Koneline, Van has also co-directed several major docs including Let There Be Light, The Vote, and Speed of Thought. Over the course of his career Van has collaborated with world-renowned directors and producers Yung Chang, Mila Aung-Thwin, Nettie Wild, Raoul Peck, and Oscar-winning Denys Arcand, on projects ranging from advertising campaigns and music videos to art installations and feature films.
ABOUT EYESTEELFILM
EYESTEELFILM made its mark with Daniel Cross' raw and intimate films made in collaboration with Canada’s homeless community (Danny Boy, The Street, SPIT: Squeegee Punks in Traffic, and the Homeless Nation project). These early works laid the foundation for a participatory filmmaking approach rooted in respect, empowerment, and solidarity. Since then, EYESTEELFILM has built a body of work known for bold storytelling and a deep commitment to justice. Select recent titles include Yintah (2024), following the Wet’suwet’en nation’s fight for sovereignty; Twice Colonized (2023), a personal reckoning with colonization across Greenland, Denmark, and Nunavut; and Midwives (2022), which tells the story of two women defying ethnic divisions in Myanmar to run a makeshift clinic.
Earlier films such as Softie (2020), Up the Yangtze (2007), and Last Train Home (2009) helped define a new wave of international documentary, blending cinematic craft with political urgency. We are proud to champion first-time and early-career filmmakers, often co-producing their visions from development through post. As one of the most dynamic co-production partners in the industry, EYESTEELFILM has collaborated on acclaimed projects like China Heavyweight (2012), Forest of the Dancing Spirits (2013), and Tokyo Idols (2017).
More recently, the studio has expanded into creative service production, supporting ambitious projects such as Blink (2024) and The Speed of Thought (2020). Today, our team is diverse, globally engaged, and driven by a belief in documentary as a force for change. We remain committed to nurturing the next generation of cinematic storytellers from every corner of the world.
www.eyesteelfilm.com
CREDITS
THE ULTRA RUNNER
Runtime: 98 minutes
Languages: English, Romanian, Italian, German
Countries of Production: Canada
Production Companies: EYESTEELFILM, winterhouse pictures
Featuring
Tiberiu Ușeriu
Alin Uhlmann Ușeriu
&
Maria Mihaela Ștefănuț
David Ușeriu
Eftina Moeșan
Ana Szekely
Directed by
Mila Aung-Thwin
Produced by
Bob Moore
Mike MacMillan
Executive Producers
Mila Aung-Thwin
Daniel Cross
Valerie Shamash
Executive Producers
Mandy Chang
Mark Reynolds
Executive Producer
Ada Solomon
Director of Photography
Van Royko, CSC
Editor
Ryan Mullins
Written by
Mila Aung-Thwin
Mike MacMillan
Original Score
Trevor Anderson
Supervising Sound Editor
Cory Rizos
Sound Designers
Luc Raymond
Chris Leon
Produced with the Financial Participation of:
Telefilm Canada, SODEC Québec, Québec Film and Television Tax Credit, Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit
Produced in Association with:
EYESTEELFILM, Fremantle, winterhouse pictures
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Alex Nitsiou 8/13/2026 |
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