The Toronto International Film Festival says it’s not pulling a controversial documentary about Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine from its schedule, despite outcry from Ukrainian officials and community groups who say the film amounts to propaganda.
TIFF’s statement comes a day after Ontario’s public broadcaster TVO, which helped fund Russians at War, announced it was no longer supporting the film and would not be airing it in the coming months as planned.
“In our view, in no way should this film be considered Russian propaganda,” TIFF said Wednesday, following days of silence on the issue.
“While we understand the concerns expressed by many, we believe, like the Venice Film Festival and other international festivals who have programmed the film, that this Canadian documentary merits a place in our selection.”
The Ukrainian Canadian Congress, which helped organize a protest against the film in Toronto on Tuesday, said it’s disappointed by TIFF’s stance.
“They have steadfastly ignored any letters from us, from the Ukrainian government, from community leaders,” the organization’s CEO Ihor Michalchyshyn said in an interview. “I think it’s quite shocking that they’re not really listening to the concerns they’re getting.”
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says the Ukrainian community and Ukrainian diplomats have shared their concerns about the screening of Russians at War at the Toronto International Film Festival. She added that it’s not right for Canadian public money to support the screening and production of a film like this.
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 doubt about the war and question their roles in it — even as they proceed to follow orders and assert their patriotism.
The film has drawn ire from those who say the sympathetic view of the struggling soldiers whitewashes the war crimes by Russia’s military in Ukraine. Trofimova has defended her work by saying the film is “antiwar” and that she took great risk in filming without permission from the Russian government.
TIFF said that while it “deeply” feels and understands the suffering of Ukrainian people, “as a cultural institution, we stand for the right of artists and cultural workers to express fair political comment freely and oppose censorship.”
In contrast, TVO’s board of directors said Tuesday that it decided to “respect the feedback” it received about Russians at War — after the broadcaster initially defended the film.
The film was funded in part by the Canada Media Fund, which provided $340,000 for the project through its broadcaster envelope program. A spokesperson for the fund said TVO independently chose to use that money to support the production of the documentary.
Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland denounced the use of public funds for the film while speaking to reporters in Nanaimo, B.C., on Tuesday.
“It’s not right for Canadian public money to be supporting the screening and production of a film like this,” Freeland said, adding that there is “no moral equivalency” in the Russia-Ukraine war.
It’s unclear whether Freeland has seen the documentary.