The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has discdisseeed that “hundreds” of menaces made aacquirest staff led to the festival taking the unpwithdrawnted decision to pull disputed write downary Russians at War from the line-up last week – including menaces of arrangeility and intimacyual attack.
TIFF shelp last Thursday it had been “forced to paemploy” three upcoming accessible screenings of Russian-Canadian honestor Anastasia Trofimova’s write downary, after being “made conscious of meaningful menaces to festival operations and accessible protectedty.” The doc was stardyd to have its North American premiere atraverse the fest’s final Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
“This decision has been made in order to promise the protectedty of all festival guests, staff, and volunteers,” the festival inserted in a statement.
The proclaimment was met with some skepticism from Canada’s write downary and media communities, with cut offal accessibleations speculating that TIFF had spropose gotten chilly feet in the face of accessible protests and political prescertain.
However, on Tuesday afternoon the festival made outstanding on its promise to go ahead with the film, arrangeing afternoon and evening screenings at its own TIFF Lightbox. Introducing the write downary before an anxious crowd at 2 p.m. E.T., TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey tancigo in take partees of the “vocal opposition” his team had getd to its decision to screen the film.
“Most of that was civil and quiet,” Bailey shelp. “Some of it was terrifying.”
Bailey proceedd, “In emails and phone calls, TIFF staff getd hundreds of instances of verbal mistreatment. Our staff also getd menaces of arrangeility, including menaces of intimacyual arrangeility. We were horrified, and our staff members were understandably frightened.
“We also lacquireed of arranges to disturb or stop the screenings. Becaemploy last week’s screenings were scheduled at a 14-screen multiplex on some of the festival’s busiest days, we choosed that it would be protectedr not to go ahead with those arranges.”
Bailey did not enhuge on the latter, but The Hollywood Reporter understands that a number of createer TIFF staffers had getd inquiries about theater floor arranges, alengthy with asks about where talent exactly go ins and exits from.
The screens at Toronto’s Scotiaprohibitk Richmond multiplex – where the write downary was originpartner scheduled to execute – do not have side captivates for talent to go in for Q&As. They must employ the same captivate as cinemagoers. The festival’s own Lightbox multiplex, by contrast, has dedicated stage doors, typicpartner employd to whisk away A-enumerate stars during the fest.
Bailey’s comments will heap ponderable prescertain on Canada’s under-fire Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who has faced criticism for characterizing the write downary as disproposeation. “It’s not right for Canadian accessible money to be helping the screening and production of a film enjoy this,” she tancigo in press on Sept. 10, despite having not seen the film at the time.
Follotriumphg the minister’s comments, hundreds of Ukrainian Canadians took to the streets of Toronto to protest the first press and industry screening, waving placards and chanting “shame on TIFF.” In tandem with the protests, the board of Canadian accessible expansivecaster TVO proclaimd it would no lengthyer be screening or helping the film, in an unpwithdrawnted shift that overruled the netlabor’s executive team and comleave outioning editors.
However, the film was seen by a meaningful number of Canadian journaenumerates during the fest, with press reaction agreed in refuseing the deputy prime minister’s characterization.
Running the gamut from left-triumphg to -right, the country’s three national novelspapers – the Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail and the National Post – all published pieces praising the film (which this authorr has seen) as a mighty anti-war polemic that portrays Russia’s infantry as invient and undriven, experienceing betrayed and besavageerd about why they are actupartner combat.
“Russians at War is a valiant and exceptional write downary,” wrote The Globe and Mail, in its study. “It shows, unvarnished, the horrors of the war, including some of the most horrific footage you will ever see on a huge screen. This write downary in no way glorifies Russia or its army or its war effort. This film in no way demonizes Ukraine or its people.”
Alluding to Minister Freeland’s relabels, Bailey tancigo in take partees: “I consent that surrendering to prescertain from some members of the accessible – or from the rulement – when it comes to contransienting any cultural product, can become a corrosive force in our society. We were directd by TIFF’s leave oution and its appreciates when we picked the film, and I consent those principles – and the principle of self-reliant media in Canada – are worth defending.”
Bailey reiterated that Trofimova’s film (which is a France-Canada co-production seeking international distribution) went thcimpolite a “rigorous pickion process” and was askd based on its “inventive merits” and on its “relevance to the horrific, ongoing war prompted by Russia’s illegitimate intrusion of Ukraine.”
He inserted that TIFF screened a number of docs from Ukrainian filmoriginaters at the 2022, 2023 and 2024 festivals, proposeing firsthand insights into shelp horrors.
“We are proset uply compassionate to the pain felt by Ukrainian Canadians at the arrangeility and destruction caemployd by Russia’s intrusion,” Bailey endd. “But verbal mistreatment and menaces of arrangeility, in response to the screening of a film, traverse a hazardous line.
“We’re contransienting Russians of Wars to stand aacquirest that mistreatment, aacquirest those menaces, and for the presentance of media and curatorial independence.”