OTTAWA, Sept 13, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - The Toronto International Film Festival
said Thursday it was pausing all upcoming screenings of controversial
documentary "Russians at War" after receiving "significant threats."

"We have been made aware of significant threats to festival operations and
public safety," festival organizers said in a statement, pointing to reports
they received "indicating potential activity in the coming days that pose
significant risk."

"This is an unprecedented move for TIFF," read the statement.

"Given the severity of these concerns, we cannot proceed as planned."

Anastasia Trofimova first presented "Russians at War" at the Venice Film
Festival.

In the film, she embedded with a Russian battalion as it advanced across
eastern Ukraine after Moscow launched its invasion in February 2022.

It was to have its North American premiere in Toronto on Friday, followed by
additional screenings on Saturday and Sunday.

Both in Venice and Toronto it has sparked outrage in Ukrainian cultural and
political circles against what many consider a pro-Kremlin film that seeks to
whitewash and justify Moscow's assault on its neighbour.

Ukraine's presidential chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said he felt the
festival should have dropped the film.

"The threat is Russian propaganda," he wrote on Telegram, adding that the
film should be "banned."

Canada's deputy prime minister, Chrystia Freeland, criticised the planned
screening in Toronto.

"There can be no moral equivalency in our understanding of this conflict,"
she said.

Canadian public broadcaster TVO, which had helped fund the documentary,
pulled its support for the film and said it would not be airing it.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's state film agency appealed to TIFF to drop the film,
which it said was "a dangerous tool for public opinion manipulation."

Trofimova has rejected the criticisms, telling AFP the Canada-France
production was "an anti-war film" that showed "ordinary guys" who were
fighting for Russia.

The soldiers depicted appear to have little idea of why they have been sent
to the front, and are shown struggling to make Soviet-era weapons
serviceable.

Others chain-smoke cigarettes and down shots of alcohol amid the deaths and
wounds of their comrades.

Producer Sean Farnel said on X that the decision to cancel the screenings was
"heartbreaking."

He blamed officials' public criticisms for having "incited the violent hate
that has led to TIFF's painful decision to pause its presentation of
'Russians at War.'"