Toronto Film Festival cancels “Russians at War”

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has removed the documentary film “Russians at War” by Canadian-Russian director Anastasia Trovimova from its program at short notice. The filmmaker, who lives in Canada and accompanied Russian soldiers at the front without official permission, had already sparked controversy at the premiere of her film in Venice.

At the Lido, “Russians at War” was already accused of portraying the hopeless situation of young men in the Russian war of aggression without addressing the suffering of the Ukrainian population. Trovimova defended her approach by saying that she wanted to show the conditions at the front, away from Russian propaganda. Her intention was not to heroize the Russian soldiers.

At the press conference in Venice, Trovimova responded to the question of whether her film would not “humanize” the Russian soldiers who were in a sovereign country in violation of international law: “I find it a somewhat strange question whether we can or cannot humanize someone. So are there lists of people we can humanize and people we cannot humanize? Of course we have to humanize every person. This is a great tragedy for our region and for the whole world.” However, her statements only intensified the criticism of her film.

The production companies based in Canada and France promote “Russians at War” by saying that “in light of Russia’s unjust war against Ukraine (…) it is crucial to understand the long history of colonization that has led to this point.”

In a statement, the Toronto Film Festival justified the cancellation of the three screenings this weekend with threats against the director. “As a cultural institution, we support civil discourse about and through films, including differences of opinion, and we fully support peaceful assemblies.

However, we have received reports indicating possible activities in the coming days that pose a significant risk; given the severity of these concerns, we cannot proceed as planned.” The management stresses that, to their knowledge, no Russian money went into the production of “Russians at War.”

The festival has announced that it will show the controversial film at a later date.