The Toronto Film Festival has confirmed that Russian-Canadian director Anastasia Trofimova will screen her controversial documentary Russians at war Friday after the world premiere in Venice.
“The film will open in North America later this week as scheduled,” TIFF organizers said in a statement Wednesday. A representative for Trofimova said the Toronto-based filmmaker had no comment on whether TIFF would proceed with the first public screening on Friday.
TIFF's decision came despite political pressure from Canadian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who is Ukrainian, and Ukrainian Consul General Oleh Nikolenko. “Ukrainian diplomats and the Ukrainian-Canadian community have expressed very grave concerns about that film, and I want to say I share those concerns,” Freeland told reporters Tuesday.
Controversy over the film first surfaced at the Venice Film Festival, where the film had its world premiere. Trofimova sparked a backlash after the film's press conference on the Lido when she defended the film, which she made while embedded in a Russian army battalion in eastern Ukraine during filming.
Ukrainian Canadians protest Russians at war Documentary at the Toronto Film Festival
Ethan Vlessing
On Tuesday, about 400 Ukrainian citizens of Toronto gathered outside the TIFF Lightbox, the venue of the main film festival, and protested against a press and industry screening of the film Russians at war. But TIFF organizers, while acknowledging the concerns raised by the Canadian documentary, defended its presence in the festival's official program on artistic grounds.
“Our understanding is that it was made without the knowledge or participation of any Russian government agency. In our opinion, this film should in no way be considered Russian propaganda,” the festival organizers said.
Russians at war will have a North American premiere Friday afternoon at the Scotiabank Theatre, as originally scheduled. TIFF organizers are expected to beef up security for the film's screening, both outside the theater and in the auditorium, where rioting by protesters remains a possibility.
Also on Wednesday, the Documentary Organization of Canada, which represents the filmmakers, said it was “deeply alarmed” that TVOntario, the provincial publicly funded broadcaster, had withdrawn production funding for Russians at war.
“Protecting a documentary creator's ability to explore controversial topics is critical to a healthy society. This action by a public broadcaster's board of directors to censor content poses a serious threat to independent media in Canada,” the DOC said in a statement.
TVOntario previously released its own statement on its support for Russians at War. “We have listened to the Ukrainian-Canadian community and their thoughtful and heartfelt input. The TVO Board of Directors has decided to respect the feedback received and TVO will no longer support or broadcastRussians at war” .