The CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) denied on Thursday that a documentary about the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre was rejected from the festival due to censorship, and said he was working with the filmmaker to ensure the work can be screened.
The festival was set to show “The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue,” which tells the story of Maj. Gen. (res.) Noam Tibon, who set out to save his son, journalist Amir Tibon, and his son’s family as they were attacked by Hamas-led terrorists at their home on Kibbutz Nahal Oz near the Gaza border. The film was created by Canadian filmmaker Barry Avrich.
Deadline reported Tuesday that TIFF pulled the screening due to fear of anti-Israel protesters disrupting the festival. However, sources close to the film’s production told the site that the festival’s claimed reason for the cancellation was that the filmmakers had not received explicit permission to use videos of the Hamas operatives during the attack in the film, with the festival fearing a potential lawsuit.
In a statement, CEO Cameron Bailey apologized for “any pain this situation may have caused,” acknowledging “the concerns it has raised among members of the Jewish community and beyond” and insisting he intends for the movie to be shown.
“I want to be clear: claims that the film was rejected due to censorship are unequivocally false. 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 added.
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“The events of October 7, 2023, and the ongoing suffering in Gaza weigh heavily on us, underscoring the urgent need for compassion amid rising antisemitism and Islamophobia. While we are not a political organization, TIFF will always strive to present our programming in a safe, inclusive environment,” Bailey wrote.
Retired Israeli general Noam Tibon in the documentary ‘The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue’ (Courtesy)
The movie features footage taken from the cameras of terrorists, who filmed their atrocities as they marauded through Israeli communities. Over a quarter of Nahal Oz’s 400 residents were killed or taken hostage that day.
According to Deadline, the filmmakers were asked by the festival to make several editorial changes, including to the film’s title, and get legal clearance to use footage filmed and livestreamed by Hamas terrorists as they carried out their onslaught.
The artists were also told they had to beef up security for the event and provide a letter of indemnification, legally accepting liability for any copyright violations or other legal issues that could arise from the film’s showing.
Speaking to Channel 12 news on Wednesday, line producer Talia Harris Ram confirmed this, dryly calling the decision “a bit of a joke.”
“The topic of creators’ rights is something I work with regularly,” she said. “There’s no legal problem with showing these clips, which were already streamed live on October 7. From an intellectual property standpoint, they are clearly in the public domain.”
A TIFF spokesman told Deadline: “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.”
“The purpose of the requested conditions was to protect TIFF from legal implications and to allow TIFF 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,” they added.
After the announcement of the cancellation, the filmmakers 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.”
Michael Horovitz and Zev Stub contributed to this report.
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