Update: On Sunday, Sept. 15 at 8:00pm, TIFF announced that it would resume screenings of Russians at War on Tuesday, Sept. 17. The press office did not respond to requests illuminating the backtrack.
No one can say that people aren’t paying attention to TIFF this year. Ron Howard, Angelina Jolie and Ben Stiller affably appearing for Gala screenings are just the same-old, same-old. Nothing new there. But how about a doc that threatens to reveal all about Bibi Netanyahu, which scares the Israeli Prime Minister enough to go to court to try to see it banned in far-away Toronto? Or—even worse—a documentary about a sad-sack Russian troop operating as part of the invasion of Ukraine that so upset Canadian politicians and opinion makers that it ended up not being screened at all by the festival?
Russians at War has turned into the cause celebre of the festival, its defining moment. A relatively low budget documentary scheduled to be broadcast on TVO later in the fall, it would normally have barely rated a mention in most TIFF accounts. But that was before Ukrainian and Canadian politicos decided to turn the film—sight unseen—into a matter of grave controversy. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, a distinguished Ukrainian Canadian Liberal is unlikely to generally agree with Ontario’s Conservative Premier Doug Ford, though the two seemed got along well enough applying authoritarian rule during COVID. Since the pandemic, they have generally stuck to party lines until Russians at War appeared on the scene.
Directed by Russian Canadian filmmaker Anastasia Trofimova, Russians at War is hardly the propaganda piece that Freeland, Ukraine’s consul-general in Toronto Oleh Nikolenko and others claim it to be. Anyone who watches the film will see that the Russians who Trofimova became embedded with aren’t a gung-ho unit of macho patriots. In classic verité style, Trofimova allows the soldiers to reveal their own ignorance of why the war is taking place and with the exception of one clearly foolish youngster, the troop doesn’t ringingly endorse their military arrival in Ukraine. Indeed, they are shown as being horrified at the destruction of towns in Ukraine; this is hardly a pro-war film.
The director, who has worked for the CBC, has been quoted as saying, ““I unequivocally believe that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is unjustified, illegal, and acknowledge the validity of the International Criminal Court investigation of war crimes in Ukraine. I also understand and sympathize with the pain and anger that the subject matter may provoke in those who have suffered from this conflict… My hope is that our film can be accessed and discussed based on its scope.”
Does that sound like Russian propaganda to you? The reaction to Russians at War is appalling if you’re a supporter of freedom of speech and the right of artists to express themselves. TVO has dropped the film and is purportedly investigating how it was even partially funded by our provincial public broadcaster. TIFF continued to support the screening of the film at the festival until yesterday when they decided to pull it from the schedule. Now, people won’t be able to judge for themselves whether the film is a fair profile of a group of soldiers—clearly fallible and hardly heroes—fighting in a controversial war or a deliberate attempt to make members of the Russian invading army in the Ukraine look good.
I have seen the film, think it’s a fine balanced doc, and hope you can see it soon. Let me quote Alberto Barbera, the Venice Film Festival’s artistic director who said in defense of Russians at War, “Very far from being an act of propaganda pro-Russia, it is an anti-war film, with a very sensible and touching human approach, as well as great artistic craftsmanship.”
The other major controversial film at TIFF, The Bibi Files, actually screened successfully earlier this week despite “Bibi” Netanyahu’s attempts to having it quashed in court. The film is an investigation into the corrupt practices of Israel’s Prime Minister. Directed by Alexis Bloom and produced by the internationally acclaimed Alex Gibney, it will have a wide reach thanks to its use of leaked investigative footage of Netanyahu and others, which form the thrust of the film. However, the same footage makes it impossible to screen in Israel, where it could prejudice a jury.
The success of the film so far—it is still a work-in-progress—is in tying together Netanyahu’s corruption charges with the Gaza War, which is at least partially motivated by his need to maintain power in order to avoid the consequences of his impending trial. The real problem is that the corruption that is likely provable doesn’t seem as nearly important as the on-going war. It’s pretty clear that Netanyahu loves expensive cigars and champagne, and his somewhat scary wife Sara enjoys bubbly to excess–and has been gifted jewellery from Tiffany’s.
Most of the largesse seems to have come from Oscar-winning producer Arnon Milchan, among whose notable credits are The Revenant, Birdman, L.A. Confidential and 12 Years a Slave. Milchan undoubtedly has the ear of the Prime Minister for any deals he wants approved in Israel. Bloom’s film also shows that Shaul Elovitch, the leading shareholder in Bezeq, Israel’s leading Internet provider, is also implicated in Netanyahu’s corruption charges as he and his companies have benefitted financially from the Prime Minister’s “reluctance” to investigate any of their alleged fiscal improprieties. It’s clear that Netanyahu is getting a far easier ride on Walla, Bezeq’s major news source, than he might have otherwise.
Unfortunately for the film—and the investigation—Netanyahu is a master at media manipulation. He’s very careful to never lie; the Prime Minister, famous for a brilliant memory simply “doesn’t remember” anything that the investigators bring up. It makes for frustrating footage and leaves the film without a “smoking gun” to truly nail Netanyahu. Still, The Bibi Files is fascinating to watch, and it does tell his controversial tale very well.
TIFF will wrap this weekend. It’s been a great year for docs. Piece by Piece, Dahomey, So Surreal, Ernest Cole: Lost and Found, Blue Road, Your Tomorrow, and so many others made it a fine non-fiction festival.
