The TIFF film festival in Toronto cited security threats from Ukrainian activists
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has made the “unprecedented” decision to effectively cancel the scheduled showings of the documentary feature ‘Russians at War’. The organizers cited security threats after pressure from Ukrainian activists.
Russian-Canadian filmmaker Anastasia Trofimova spent seven months with a Russian military unit and produced the first-person documentary with Canadian government funding. Its pre-screening on Tuesday was picketed by Ukrainian groups calling it “Russian propaganda.”
“We have received reports indicating potential activity in the coming days that pose significant risk; given the severity of these concerns, we cannot proceed as planned,” TIFF organizers announced on Thursday evening.
“This has been an incredibly difficult decision,” they added. “This is an unprecedented move for TIFF.”
The festival…