Toronto is heading into September with plenty of momentum, but it didn’t take long for the festival’s first controversy to emerge.
Barry Avrich’s latest documentary, tackling Israel’s October 7, “The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue,” was briefly pulled from the TIFF lineup last week before being reinstated after pushback from several advocacy groups.
The compromise, it seems, will be that the film will have just a single screening, with no press or industry access.
Avrich, of course, is no stranger to TIFF. He’s practically the festival’s unofficial house documentarian, chronicling Canadian cultural figures and institutions for decades. This time, though, he’s landed on combustible material.
The film follows retired IDF General Naom Tibon, who on October 7, 2023, rushed to save his son’s family, including two granddaughters, as they were surrounded by Hamas terrorists. On the way, he also rescued survivors of the Nova music festival and helped the wounded.
At first, TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey attributed the film’s rejection to “footage rights issues,” firmly denying censorship. But when organizations such as the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation and Creative Community for Peace accused the festival of silencing a story about Israeli victims, TIFF quickly reversed course. Bailey and Avrich issued a joint statement announcing that the film would indeed play.
Still, the festival’s solution — a single Monday showing, closed off from press and distributors. Toronto has been burned before by the Middle East conflict (remember 2009, when the “Tel Aviv Spotlight” provoked boycotts and outrage?). This year, with war in Gaza dominating headlines, TIFF seems wary of a repeat.
One suspects the limited slot will only add to the intrigue. Security will be tight, demand enormous, protests outside the theatre and discussion fierce. For Avrich, controversy may be the best possible launchpad. For TIFF, it’s another reminder that programming Israeli stories has become kryptonite.
The short version: "Woman Unknown" was a compromise. The jury deadlocked over "Possible Love" and "NAZA," not able to com to terms, fell back on their #3, May el-Toukhy's film.