The anti-war documentary Russians at War screened yesterday at the TIFF Lightbox theater after the Toronto International Film Festival paused screenings due to “significant threats” last week over the Anastasia Trofimova directed film.
In the documentary, the Russian Canadian filmmaker embeds herself with Russian soldiers on the frontline in Ukraine. Before the movie was even screened at TIFF, Ukrainian diplomats and activists in Canada on Sept. 10 urged the fest to cancel screenings, claiming it was Russian propaganda.
Calls to TIFF were not returned about their reasons to finally screen the film. TIFF ran from Sept. 5-15, wrapping up Sunday.
However, at last night’s screening, TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey said during the Russians at War intro, “Because last week’s screenings were scheduled at a 14-screen multiplex on some of the festival’s busiest days, we determined that it would be safer not to go ahead with those plans. Today, we can screen the film in a more secure environment.”
“But why screen the film at all? First, because it went through a rigorous selection process as does every film we invite. It was invited on its artistic merits and on its relevance to the horrific ongoing war prompted by Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.”
We hear from sources that yesterday’s screenings at 2PM and 6:30PM at the Lightbox had heavy security: Not only were bags checked (which is standard at any TIFF screening), but attendees were wanded and there was a bomb-sniffing dog on hand. During the Q&A, audiences members commended TIFF and Trofimova on screening the movie in the face of threats and protests. Russians at War played previously out of competition at the Venice Film Festival and received a five-minute standing ovation.
Russians at War‘s presence at TIFF riled up Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland who denounced the documentary saying “It’s not right for Canadian public money to be supporting the screening and production of a film like this.”
Last night, hinting Freeland’s comments, Bailey said “I believe that surrendering to pressure from some members of the public — or from the government — when it comes to presenting any cultural product, can become a corrosive force in our society. We were guided by TIFF’s mission and its values when we selected the film, and I believe those principles — and the principle of independent media in Canada — are worth defending.”
The Ukrainian Canadian Congress has also reportedly found the film to be pro-Russia; members of the Ukrainian community holding demonstrations during TIFF.
Also, the documentary’s distributor TVO, backed away from the movie the day before the pic’s original TIFF screening on Sept. 10, explaining in a statement, “We have listened to the Ukrainian-Canadian community and their thoughtful and heartfelt input. TVO’s Board of Directors has decided to respect the feedback we have received, and TVO will no longer be supporting or airing Russians at War. TVO will be reviewing the process by which this project was funded and our brand leveraged.” Russians at War is being sold by the pic’s producers, Raja Pictures and Capa Presse.
Russians at War was made with the support of cultural agencies in France and Canada.
Bailey said, “We are deeply sympathetic to the pain felt by Ukrainian Canadians at the violence and destruction caused by Russia’s invasion.”
“But verbal abuse and threats of violence, in response to the screening of a film, cross a dangerous line,” he added, “We’re presenting Russians at War to stand against that abuse, against those threats, and for the importance of media and curatorial independence.”
At the top of his speech last night, Bailey said that some of the threats made to TIFF staff included “sexual violence.”
“We were horrified, and our staff members were understandably frightened,” he said.
As film festivals post Covid, and even post Hollywood strikes, contend with precarious sponsorships and potential relocations, controversial documentaries no doubt add to programmers’ challenges.
At Sundance 2019, Deadline reported there were direct threats made against Dan Reed, the director of the Michael Jackson HBO documentary Finding Neverland, which forced Park City, UT police to up their presence at screenings. There was also ire at Sundance in 2022 with its screening of Meg Smaker’s documentary Jihad Rehab about former Guantanamo Bay prisoners being held in a Saudi Arabian rehab facility. That documentary drew criticism from Muslim and Arab filmmakers as well as their white supporters who accused the director of Islamophobia and American propaganda. Some also had serious charges that Jihad Reb placed its subjects in danger. Jihad Rehab screened digitally at Sundance 2022 as there wasn’t an in-person festival due to Covid. In both instances, Sundance never canceled screenings of Finding Neverland or Jihad Rehab.
What’s clear is that documentaries, no matter how small, continue to show that cinema still has the ability to stir a chorus of voices.
