On Thursday evening, Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) CEO Cameron Bailey and Barry Avrich, the director of the documentary, The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue, about the October 7 massacre by Hamas, released a joint statement on social media confirming that the film would be screened at the upcoming festival, reversing the festival’s previous decision to disinvite it.
On August 20, TIFF announced that the film would be shown on September 10 in Roy Thomson Hall in the afternoon. According to the program, the film will be screened just once, while other documentaries are being shown multiple times, but Roy Thomson Hall is a large venue, with 2,630 seats. Tickets go on sale for TIFF members on August 21 and for the general public on August 25. The festival, which is marking its 50th anniversary, will be held from September 4-14.
The story broke earlier this week that although TIFF management officially invited the film, in July, to take part in the film festival, it had suddenly disinvited it.
TIFF’s decision unleashed a storm of criticism, and the New York Post devoted its entire Thursday cover to the story, showing a photo of Hamas kidnapping an elderly woman, with the headline: SHOW NO EVIL.
US Congressman Ritchie Torres posted on social media about the flap, saying, “Could you imagine a film festival rejecting a Holocaust documentary because of objections from Nazi Germany. The collapse of moral common sense is staggering.”
“This is more than a scheduling change - it is a stand for truth against those who seek to erase it,” said David Koschitzky, Chair of WJC–North America. “By initially giving procedural weight to a terrorist group’s material, TIFF sent a chilling message. This reversal proves that truth can prevail.”
The joint statement released on August 14 stated in clearer terms that any issue TIFF had with the film had been worked out. It read, in part: “We have worked together to find a solution to satisfy important safety, legal, and programming concerns. We are pleased to share that The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue will be an official TIFF selection at the festival this year, where we believe it will contribute to the vital conversations that the film is meant to inspire. In this case, TIFF’s communication around its requirements did not clearly articulate the concerns and roadblocks that arose, and for that, we are sorry.”
The movie is by Barry Avrich, a distinguished documentary director and a former TIFF board member. In an email obtained by The Globe and Mail, TIFF management cited concerns about the filmmakers not getting permission for all the clips shown in the film, which Kan News said represented a demand for the filmmakers to obtain permission from Hamas to include clips of the massacre that the terror group filmed and broadcast widely.
TIFF CEO apologizes for disinviting the film
The other issue TIFF gave for its decision to disinvite the movie was that “The risk of major, disruptive protest actions around the film’s presence at the Festival, including internal opposition, has become too great.” But on Wednesday night, TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey released a statement, posted on Instagram, saying, “The situation calls for compassion and sensitivity, and I recognize the concerns it has raised among members of the Jewish community and beyond.
“First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere apologies for any pain this situation may have caused. It was never my intention to offend or alienate anyone… Given the sensitive and significant nature of the film’s subject, I believe that it tells an important story and contributes to the rich tapestry of perspectives in our lineup – stories that resonate here at home and around the world.”
Bailey also wrote: “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.”
TIFF, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and which will run from September 4-14, is the largest film festival in North America, and one of the most prestigious and important in the world.
The story of Noam Tibon on October 7
The documentary tells the story of Noam Tibon, a retired Israel Defense Forces General, who headed south as soon as he heard about the attack from his son, Haaretz reporter Amir Tibon, who was hiding from terrorists with his wife and daughters in their home on Kibbutz Nahal Oz. Tibon helped subdue the terrorists on the kibbutz, and his family survived.
It was the rare story from October 7 with any kind of positive outcome, and it has also sparked interest from the creators of Fauda, who plan to adapt it into a dramatic film. Thirteen people at Kibbutz Nahal Oz were murdered, and several were taken hostage. Hamas killed 1,200 people that day and took about 250 more hostage, 50 of whom are still being held in Gaza.
The initial decision to pull the film from the lineup sparked worldwide outrage, including from Jewish groups and filmmakers around the world, and many welcomed the festival’s decision to reconsider.
Following the about-face announcement, Noam Tibon was quoted by N12 as saying, “This is a film that is a human story about a life-saving mission on October 7, without a political agenda, that documents the harsh reality of the most terrible day in the history of the State of Israel.
“This reality cannot be hidden, and the truth cannot be erased. The Toronto Film Festival’s ridiculous demand to receive ‘copyright approval’ from the Nuhkba terrorists is an insult to common sense and a spit in the face of the victims. The festival did well to declare that it is considering the return of the film, and I expect it to keep its promise and prove that the Toronto Film Festival remains a free and courageous platform for creativity and does not succumb to political cowardice.”
Talia Harris Ram, one of the film’s producers, said in a Facebook post after the film was disinvited: “As the Israeli producer of the film, I was very pleased with the [initial] announcement that the film would be premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Yet, worrying signs began to accumulate, suggesting that this was uncertain. Anti-Israel voices, struggling to disconnect the story from politics – despite the Tibon family’s position to return the hostages and end the war – are working both inside and outside the festival to prevent the showing of an Israeli, human story on screen. We received a notice that the film’s participation in the festival was canceled, based on obscure, sophisticated, and pretentious language, claiming that we did not receive clearance to use archival footage used in the film. Meaning, the archival footage filmed by Hamas. Let this sink in. As someone who has dedicated her life to handling rights and intellectual property, this is the most absurd, horrific, disconnected claim I have encountered so far.”
Clips taken and broadcast by the terrorists have been included in several previous documentaries, including Yariv Mozer’s We Will Dance Again, which won the Emmy for Outstanding Current Affairs Documentary in late June.
Asked about the flap over Avrich’s film and whether anyone had requested that Mozer get permission from Hamas to use their clips, he said, “Of course not! We’re talking about a jihadist terror group. We used to joke in the editing room that we’re going to call the tunnels in Gaza and ask [killed Hamas commander Yahya] Sinwar for clearance.”
Said one Israeli film industry professional, who preferred not to be quoted by name: “Film festivals are like little kingdoms, and there are always factions in the management. The anti-Israel faction obviously wanted the movie out.
There are five or six documentaries this year about Gaza from a Palestinian perspective and they did not want even a single Israeli voice with any kind of counter-narrative. But there are still voices of reason among the board and they prevailed. I hope we’ll see more Israeli films at Toronto next year, it’s so important for getting distribution in America.”
Speaking about the festival, citing a fear of protest, he said, “That’s one of the most blatant examples I have ever seen of a Western cultural organization letting a terror group call the shots. At least they walked it back.”
Last year, Shemi Zarhin’s Bliss, a drama about an older couple, was the only Israeli film shown at the festival. Protesters disrupted the screening, but they were ejected, and it continued. This year, Or Sinai’s Mama, a similarly apolitical drama about a Polish woman (Evgenia Dodina) working in Israel who goes home to her village, is the sole Israeli film on the program.
A decade ago, TIFF would show nearly every new Israeli movie ready that year, often four or more, and it was often where Israeli films would have their international premiere. But even before the war, the number of Israeli films accepted to TIFF had begun dwindling.
But the Creative Community for Peace, an advocacy group composed of prominent members of the entertainment industry who speak out against antisemitism and in support of Israel, didn’t feel that TIFF’s apology went far enough to rectify the situation, and criticized the festival’s handling of the documentary on Friday.
The group released a letter signed by one thousand actors, directors, producers, agents, writers, and studio executives, including Fred Savage, Matthew Weiner, Amy Schumer, Lawrence Bender, Nancy Spielberg, Howard Gordon, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Sherry Lansing, Mayim Bialik, David Lonner, Debra Messing, Gideon Raff, and Adam Berkowitz, that read, in part:
“While the film has been reinstated after a significant public backlash, the festival has not offered a sincere apology or explanation for the harm it created for the Jewish community.
“Furthermore, the initial claim that the project couldn’t be screened because the filmmakers didn’t have the rights to footage Hamas – a Canadian designated terrorist group, broadcast to the world on October 7, 2023, when they massacred, raped, brutalized, and kidnaped thousands of innocent people from toddlers to Holocaust survivors — strains credibility.
“As did the claim that the cancellation was for security reasons—when anti-Israel productions face no such barrier and instead of ensuring a safe environment, TIFF caved to these violent demands that only increased a sense that the Jews of Canada don’t count.
“This incident was clearly a surrender to an antisemitic campaign determined to silence Jewish and Israeli voices, at a time when antisemitism in Canada is surging to historic levels. TIFF’s decisions this past week have only deepened and legitimized that hostility.”
They went on to call for a change in the festival leadership: “We call on the Board of Directors to question the leadership of TIFF, to platform Israeli voices moving forward, and to choose dialogue over exclusion and peace over prejudice.”