The Toronto International Film Festival says it has rescheduled screenings of the film “Russians at War” for Tuesday, Sept. 17 at the TIFF Lightbox.
According to the TIFF Lightbox page tickets for two screenings at 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. are now available.
A social media post by the Toronto branch of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress called for “another protest” in response to the decision to screen the film.
CityNews has reached out to organizers for additional information regarding the decision to screen the controversial documentary about Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine which has come under fire from Ukrainian officials and community groups who say the film amounts to propaganda.
The movie was set to premiere Friday at the recently concluded festival with additional screens on Saturday and Sunday. However one day before the first showing and after organizers said they would not pull the movie from the lineup, they announced the “heartbreaking” decision to pause future screenings following “significant threats to festival operations and public safety.”
Organizers failed to provide further detail about what those threats entailed. Toronto police directed all enquiries back to festival organizers.
“While we stand firm on our statement shared [Wednesday], this decision has been made in order to ensure the safety of all festival guests, staff, and volunteers,” TIFF said in a statement issued Sept. 12, adding they were committed to screening the film “when it is safe to do so.”
“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.”
In “Russians at War,” Canadian-Russian filmmaker Anastasia Trofimova follows soldiers and medics at the front lines of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Throughout the documentary, some of them express doubts about the war and question their roles in it even as they proceed to follow orders and assert their patriotism.
