Martin Scorsese joins psychological horror ‘Trees Are Watching’ starring Eva Green as executive producer — world premiere today at TIFF

Martin Scorsese has joined the psychological horror “Trees Are Watching” as executive producer, just one day before the film’s world premiere. The news was announced on Thursday, September 17, 2026, by Deadline.

The film comes from Kurdish-Iranian director Bahman Ghobadi, known for works such as “Turtles Can Fly” and “A Time for Drunken Horses,” who wrote and directed this project.

At the center of the story is Eva Green, who plays Daryan — a writer who returns to her hometown, Mardin, together with her deaf daughter. There she is haunted by memories of twin sisters from childhood, as well as by two trees planted as a memorial to them. The family home is surrounded by massive deforestation, except for a couple of ominous trees. Her reality is shaken by nightly visits from a malevolent entity that takes the form of a chair made of local wood.

Ghobadi says the project is deeply personal: it is shaped by the anxieties that have followed him during 18 years of exile and by reflections on the connection between man and nature.

The world premiere of “Trees Are Watching” takes place today, Friday, September 18, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. at the TIFF Lightbox, as part of the Toronto festival. So far, the film has no announced distributor.

This is not the first time Scorsese has collaborated with Ghobadi: in 2012, he presented “Rhino Season” at its world premiere at TIFF, while Ghobadi has spent time on the sets of “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “The Irishman.” This year, Scorsese has accumulated other executive producer credits in the horror genre.

Burimi: ComingSoon.net