In a disturbing and unprecedented development, Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has paused three upcoming screenings of the documentary Russians At War after top brass were made aware of “significant threats to festival operations and public safety”.
The latest episode in the controversy to engulf Russian Canadian filmmaker Anastasia Trofimova’s TIFF Docs selection came one day after the festival pledged to continue with public screenings, despite protests by what were understood to be members of Toronto’s Canadian-Ukrainian community outside Tuesday’s press and industry screening at Scotiabank.
Russians At War, an official Canada-France co-production from Raja Pictures and CAPA Presse (Films À Cinq) with funding from several Canadian agencies, was scheduled to screen three times this weekend before TIFF put the presentations on hold.
“Effectively immediately, TIFF is forced to pause the upcoming screenings of Russians at War on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday,” the festival said on Thursday, “as we have been made aware of significant threats to festival operations and public safety.
“While we stand firm on our statement shared yesterday, this decision has been made in order to ensure the safety of all festival guests, staff, and volunteers.”
The film’s producers said the decision to pause the screenings due to surrounding circumstances was “heartbreaking for us as filmmakers and Canadian citizens”. They condemned comments this week by deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland and others in Canadian political and diplomatic circles denouncing the film. On Monday Freeland posted on X: “Canadian public money should not be used to support the production or screening of media that attempts to whitewash Russia’s war crimes.”
The producers continued, “This temporary suppression is shockingly unCanadian. We call on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to fully investigate this affront, from within a sovereign government, to our democratic values and a free media.”
Earlier in the week protestors outside Scotiabank and TIFF Lightbox held placards bearing slogans like, “Stop Russian propaganda” and “Don’t normalize genocide”.
Trofimova has worked as a producer and translator for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and CBC and Russians At War is her first film. She embedded herself with Russian soldiers on the frontline and the first-person film shows troops’ growing confusion and disillusionment over the reasons they were given for fighting. The war began when Vladimir Putin’s Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
TIFF press office did not respond to questions asking it to elaborate on the nature of the threats and how it heard about them.
The full statement from TIFF appears below:
Effectively immediately, TIFF is forced to pause the upcoming screenings of Russians at War on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday as we have been made aware of significant threats to festival operations and public safety. While we stand firm on our statement shared yesterday, this decision has been made in order to ensure the safety of all festival guests, staff, and volunteers.
This is an unprecedented move for TIFF.
As a cultural institution, we support civil discourse about and through films, including differences of opinion, and we fully support peaceful assembly. However, we have received reports indicating potential activity in the coming days that pose significant risk; given the severity of these concerns, we cannot proceed as planned.
This has been an incredibly difficult decision. When we select films, we’re guided by TIFF’s Mission, our Values, and our programming principles. We believe this film has earned a place in our Festival’s lineup, and we are committed to screening it when it is safe to do so.
Producers’ statement in full appears below:
TIFF’s decision to pause its screenings of “Russians at War” due to extreme security concerns is heartbreaking for us as filmmakers and Canadian citizens. Our priority as producers, through this production, has been the safety and security of our courageous director, Anastasia Trofimova, despite her steadfast acceptance of these risks to make her documentary. We had assumed those risks would originate within Russia, not Canada.
This is not a win for Canadians, including Ukrainian Canadians. We condemn Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, Ukraine Ambassador to Canada Yuliya Kovaliv, Consul General of Ukraine in Toronto Oleh Nikolenko, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Senators Donna Dasko and Stanley Kutcher, MP Yvan Baker (Etobicoke Centre), MPP Christine Hogarth (Etobicoke-Lakeshore) and other political and community “leaders.” Their irresponsible, dishonest, and inflammatory public statements have incited the violent hate that has led to TIFF’s painful decision to pause its presentation of “Russians at War”.
This temporary suppression is shockingly unCanadian. We call on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to fully investigate this affront, from within a sovereign government, to our democratic values and a free media.
We are firmly committed to giving Canadians the opportunity to watch and reflect upon “Russians at War”. We believe reason and truth will prevail.
- The producers of “Russians at War”
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