Toronto film festival backtracks after pulling Oct. 7 documentary

After removing from its lineup earlier this week a documentary about the Hamas-led terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) appeared to retreat on Thursday after blowback over its decision, denying it had censored the film.

“I want to be clear: claims that the film was rejected due to censorship are unequivocally false,” TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey said in a post to X.

“I remain committed to working with the filmmaker to meet TIFF’s screening requirements to allow the film to be screened at this year’s festival. I have asked our legal team to work with the filmmaker on considering all options available,” he continued.

A TIFF spokesman told Deadline, an online Hollywood news site, on Tuesday: “The invitation for the Canadian documentary film ‘The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue’ was withdrawn by TIFF because general requirements for inclusion in the festival, and conditions that were requested when the film was initially invited, were not met, including legal clearance of all footage.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar criticized and satirized the decision, writing on X on Wednesday that it was made because “there was no ‘legal clearance’ from Hamas for their GoPro massacre videos.”

The festival, he added, “would have asked Hitler or Goebbels for copyright on Auschwitz footage,” adding, “Of course, the festival is about to screen five Palestinian films. This vicious and sickening decision must be canceled immediately!”

The movie, directed by Canadian filmmaker Barry Avrich, focuses on Israel Defense Forces Maj. Gen. (res.) Noam Tibon, who saved his family, including his two granddaughters, from the Hamas massacre.

Tibon also extracted survivors of the Supernova music festival attack and rescued wounded soldiers during his mission to save his family.

Sources told Deadline that TIFF pulled the film also due to the risk of anti-Israel protests at the festival, which is scheduled for Sept. 4-14.

The filmmakers behind “The Road Between Us” told Deadline: “We are shocked and saddened that a venerable film festival has defied its mission and censored its own programming by refusing this film.

“Film is an art form that stimulates debate from every perspective that can both entertain us and make us uncomfortable,” they said. “A film festival lays out the feast and the audience decides what they will or won’t see. We are not political filmmakers, nor are we activists.

“We are storytellers. We remain defiant, we will release the film, and we invite audiences, broadcasters and streamers to make up their own mind, once they have seen it,” the filmmakers’ vowed.

The filmmakers were reportedly asked to confirm that all footage used in the documentary was legally cleared, including from Hamas body cams, and to provide additional security during the screening.

According to the spokesperson, the conditions were meant to protect the festival and to allow it to “manage and mitigate anticipated and known risks around the screening of a film about highly sensitive subject matter, including potential threat of significant disruption.

“As per our terms and conditions for participation in the festival, TIFF may disqualify from participation in the festival any film that TIFF determines in its sole and absolute discretion would not be in TIFF’s best interest to include in the festival,” the statement emphasized.

‘Experiences deserve to be told and heard’

Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center said it was deeply disappointed by the decision and the festival’s failure to uphold its stated mandate of presenting films that “enrich understanding and foster empathy,” to “foster an environment of constructive and respectful dialogue” and to defend “artistic freedom.”

Instead, it has capitulated to extremists determined to silence Jewish voices and experiences, said FSWC.

“This is an unfathomable and disturbing action, and the latest in the ongoing ‘cancel culture’ campaign in which Jews often find themselves in the crosshairs,” said FSWC President and CEO Michael Levitt. “TIFF has allowed political bias and intimidation to dictate its programming.”

On Oct. 7, 2023, some 6,000 Hamas-led terrorists invaded Israel from Gaza, murdering around 1,200 people, wounding thousands of others, and abducting another 251 and dragging them into Gaza, where 20 are still held (Hamas also holds the remains of 30 more).

In response, Israel launched an ongoing military campaign aimed at dismantling Hamas and recovering the hostages.

© JNS