Despite outcry from Ukrainian officials, TIFF's press screening of Russians at War — a documentary purported to take viewers "beyond the headlines to join Russian soldiers in Ukraine" — took place today at Scotiabank Theatre.
The film comes from Moscow-born and Toronto-educated director Anastasia Trofimova, and is getting its North American premiere during the festival. With several more public screenings scheduled this week, protestors congregated outside the Richmond Street theatre today with Ukrainian flags and handmade signs, while chants of "Shame on TIFF" could be heard from the queues.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian Consul General Oleh Nikolenko addressed a letter to TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey asking that the film be removed from the TIFF lineup for its "attempts to absolve the soldiers in question of responsibility in the invasion of Ukraine."
"It is irresponsible to allow the Toronto International Film Festival, one of the most reputable world film stages, to be used to whitewash the responsibility of Russian soldiers committing war crimes in Ukraine during the ongoing Russian invasion," Nikolenko wrote [via CBC].
Protest materials found circulating online urge that TIFF "stop allowing people to whitewash Russia's illegal, ongoing, brutal invasion that kills Ukrainians every day."