The 31st Toronto International Film Festival ran from September 7 to September 16, 2006. Opening the festival was Zacharias Kunuk and Norman Cohn's The Journals of Knud Rasmussen, a film that "explores the history of the Inuit people [sic] through the eyes of a father and daughter."

José Alejandro Gómez Monteverde is a Mexican filmmaker. His first film, Bella, took top prize at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival by winning the "People's Choice Award". He also directed the films Sound of Freedom and Cabrini.