TIFF suspends screening of ‘Russia at war’ film

The Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday has disclosed it will pause all upcoming screenings of the film  Russians at War.

The first-person documentary by Russian Canadian filmmaker Anastasia Trofimova spurred protests from Ukrainian officials and community groups saying the film amounts to propaganda. 

“In this war, which is full of this complete fog where both sides don’t see each other, I had the chance to lift the veil a little bit on the reality of one of the sides that no one, especially Canadians, has heard from for the last two-and-a-half years.

“I would appreciate everyone who is levelling these accusations to first of all see the film because, from what I understand, none of the protesters that we saw has seen the film,” Trofimova said.

In a statement on Thursday, organisers blamed “significant threats to festival operations and public safety,” adding that this is an unprecedented move for TIFF.

“This has been a tough decision. When selecting films, we’re guided by TIFF’s mission, values, and 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.

“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.”

Sean Farnel, who is the film’s consulting producer, however, called the move “heartbreaking” while urging Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, to “fully investigate this affront, from within a sovereign government, to our democratic values in a free media.

“We had assumed those risks would originate within Russia, not Canada.”