by Thom Ernst – Film Correspondent
(September 12, 2024 – Toronto, ON) The hot-button issue at TIFF this year is the Canadian-Russian documentary film Russians at War.
I won’t be writing a formal film review of Russians at War as the producer is a friend. However, the controversy that has been dogging the film since its Venice premiere does invite discussion, and I can’t ignore it.
If you haven’t heard, Russians at War, directed by Russian Canadian filmmaker Anastasia Trofimova, is accused of “whitewashing” the atrocities Russia has committed against Ukraine. There has been a calling out of the director, Trofimova, claiming she has ties to the Kremlin—an accusation the film’s producers say is unwarranted.
Protesters called for the film’s removal from the TIFF lineup. TIFF refused to bend, and the film remains as scheduled. However, the schedule at TVO has changed. TVO, once Russians at War’s broadcast partner, cut ties with the film. In a statement that screams Heads are Going to Roll! released by TVO’s board of directors, it announces that the broadcaster has launched an investigation into how the project got approved in addition to cutting ties.
Does Russians at War deserve the backlash? The debate is heated. The film’s producers can’t dismiss the protestors’ concerns as entirely misguided. In an open statement, the producers write: “We acknowledge the pain and anger that Ukrainians in Canada, including refugees of the war, are expressing. We full-heartedly support the right to peaceful protest and expressions of criticism. We have hoped that such criticism and discussion would be informed by audiences who have seen the film and drawn their conclusions from what they have seen, not what they have heard.”
Russians at War is not pro-Kremlin; it offers a raw, conflicted perspective on the war, ultimately positioning itself as anti-war. However, not everyone who has seen the film will agree with the director’s approach or message. This is an ongoing war, and many aren’t prepared to exercise concern for the enemy’s welfare. That response is valid. Seeing the film and deciding it’s an anti-war movie is valid. Seeing the film and deciding it’s propaganda is valid.
But the film needs to be seen.
Disrupting screenings, as at least one protester managed to do, and to silence the film’s message, as a TVO has done, feels like an uncomfortable step closer to the kind of censorship exercised by the very powers this documentary criticizes.
UPDATE: Late this afternoon, TIFF announced that it would be “suspending” screenings of Russians at War. It had been scheduled for Friday September 13 at 2:30PM at the Scotiabank 3; and on Saturday September 14, at 9:05AM at the Scotiabank 8, and on Sunday, September 15 at 10:15AM at Scotiabank 11.
Also see: The Producers of Russians at War Respond.
Thom Ernst is a Toronto-based film critic and writer and an active member of the (TFCA) Toronto Film Critics’ Association. His work has appeared in various publications including Playback Magazine, The Toronto Star, and The National Post. He is also a contributor to Original Cin. He was host, interviewer and producer of televisions’ longest running movie program Saturday Night at the Movies on TVOntario.
