The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has announced that “hundreds” of threats against staff have led to the festival’s unprecedented decision to withdraw the controversial documentary. Russians at war from last week’s confrontation – including threats of violence and sexual abuse.

TIFF announced last Thursday that it had to “pause” three upcoming public screenings of Russian-Canadian director Anastasia Trofimova’s documentary after being “made aware of significant threats to festival operations and public safety.” The documentary’s North American premiere was scheduled for the final Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the festival.

“This decision has been made to ensure the safety of all festival guests, staff and volunteers,” the festival added in a statement.

The announcement was met with skepticism in the Canadian documentary film and media scene, with several publications speculating that TIFF had simply gotten cold feet in the face of public protests and political pressure.

On Tuesday afternoon, however, the festival made good on its promise to screen the film, hosting afternoon and evening screenings in its own TIFF Lightbox. As TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey introduced the documentary to a rapt crowd at 2 p.m. ET, he told attendees about the “vocal opposition” his team had experienced to the decision to screen the film.

“Most of it was civil and peaceful,” Bailey said. “Some of it was terrifying.”

Bailey continued, “TIFF staff received hundreds of verbal abuses in emails and phone calls. Our staff also received threats of violence, including threats of sexual violence. We were appalled and our staff were understandably frightened.”

“We also learned of plans to interrupt or cancel screenings altogether. Since the screenings were scheduled to take place last week in a 14-screen multiplex cinema on one of the busiest days of the festival, we decided it would be safer not to implement these plans.”

Bailey did not elaborate on the latter, but The Hollywood Reporterunderstands that a number of former TIFF staffers have received inquiries about the theater floor plans, along with questions about where exactly the talent comes in and out.

The screens at the Scotiabank Richmond Multiplex in Toronto – where the documentary was originally scheduled to be shown – do not have side entrances for the talent to enter the Q&A. They must use the same entrance as moviegoers. The festival’s own Lightbox Multiplex, on the other hand, has its own stage entrances, which are usually used to sneak out A-list stars during the festival.

Bailey’s comments will put considerable pressure on Canada’s under-criticized Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who has come under fire for calling the documentary propaganda. “It is not right that Canadian public funds support the screening and production of such a film,” she told the press on September 10, although she had not seen the film at the time.

Following the minister’s comments, hundreds of Ukrainians in Canada took to the streets of Toronto to protest the first press and industry screening, waving placards and chanting “Shame on TIFF.” In parallel with the protests, the board of Canada’s public broadcaster TVO announced that it would no longer show or support the film, an unprecedented move that overruled the channel’s management and editors.

Nevertheless, the film was seen by a significant number of Canadian journalists during the festival, and the press reaction was unanimous in rejecting the characterization of the Deputy Prime Minister.

The country’s three national newspapers, ranging from left to right – the Toronto Star , The Globe and the Post and theNational Post– all published articles praising the film (which the author of this article has seen) as a powerful anti-war polemic that portrays the Russian infantry as inept and unmotivated, feeling betrayed and not knowing why they are fighting at all.

” Russians at war is a brave and extraordinary documentary,” wrote The Globe and the Postin his review. “It shows the horrors of war in an unvarnished way, including some of the most gruesome footage you will ever see on a big screen. This documentary in no way glorifies Russia or its army or its war effort. This film in no way demonizes Ukraine or its people.”

Referring to Minister Freeland’s comments, Bailey told those present: “I believe that giving in to pressure from some members of the public – or the government – when it comes to presenting a cultural product can be a destructive force in our society. In selecting the film, we were guided by the mission and values ​​of TIFF, and I believe that these principles – and the principle of independent media in Canada – are worth defending.”

Bailey reiterated that Trofimova’s film (a French-Canadian co-production with an international distribution strategy) had gone through a “rigorous selection process” and was invited because of its “artistic value” and its “relevance to the horrific, ongoing war sparked by Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine”.

He added that TIFF had screened a number of documentaries by Ukrainian filmmakers at the 2022, 2023 and 2024 festivals that offered first-hand insights into the horrors in question.

“We deeply sympathize with the pain felt by Ukrainians in Canada at the violence and destruction caused by the Russian invasion,” Bailey concluded. “But verbal abuse and threats of violence in response to the screening of a film cross a dangerous line.”

“We presentRussians of the warsto stand up against this abuse, against these threats and for the importance of media and curatorial independence.”