The documentary Russians at War had its belated North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 17. Screenings were flanked by Ukrainian protesters alleging the film as propaganda that whitewashes Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. However, festival leaders and the film team provided more insight into the decision to pause the documentary’s run during the festival proper.
TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey introduced the screening and stated that Russians at War went through a rigorous selection process, as any film invited to screen at the festival does. However, he noted that the selection prompted opposition that ranged from civil and peaceful to terrifying. “TIFF staff received hundreds of instances of verbal abuse. Our staff also received threats of violence, including threats of sexual violence. We were horrified and our staff members were understandably frightened. We also learned of plans to disrupt or stop the screenings because last week’s screenings were scheduled at a 14 screen multiplex on some of the festival’s busiest days,” said Bailey.
Screenings for Russians at War were slated for the Cineplex Scotiabank, which has a TIFF takeover, particularly on the second weekend of the festival as public screenings occupy spaces previously used for press and industry screenings. “We determined that it would be safer not to go ahead with those plans. Today we can screen the film in a more secure environment, but why screen the film at all?”
Bailey reiterated that Russians at War was selected on its artistic merits and its relevance as a portrait of the invasion of Ukraine. The TIFF head noted that the festival screened stories from Ukrainian filmmakers offering insight into the war at the festivals in 2022, 2023, and 2024. Those selections included the documentaries Mariupolis 2, In the Rearview, Defiant, and this year’s selections Viktor and Temporary Shelter.
“The film you’re about to see as a Canadian documentary developed in partnership with several Canadian funding bodies, both public and private. It adheres to the principles of documentary ethics that are standard practice in Canada,” added Bailey, who called the film a powerful statement against the war. “I believe that surrendering to pressure from some members of the public or from a government when it comes to presenting any cultural product, can become a corrosive force in our society…We welcome debate around the films we screen. We don’t mind debates getting heated, and we are deeply sympathetic to the pain felt by Ukrainian Canadians that the violence and destruction caused by Russia’s invasion, but verbal abuse and threats of violence in response to the screening of a film cross a dangerous line.” Bailey said the presentation of Russians at War today was a stand against said abuse and threats, but also a stand for “the importance of media and curatorial independence.”
Bailey was joined by TIFF Programming Director Anita Lee and producer Cornelia Principe to introduce the film. “This is a hard film. It was a hard film to make, and it’s not always easy to watch,” said Principe, who thanked the funders who have stood by the film after the board of Ontario public broadcaster TVO pulled it from its schedule and withdrew support without consulting the film team. Funders who’ve reiterated their support include British Columbia’s Knowledge Network. The Canada Media Fund’s funding decision received a call for a public inquiry from Senator Donna Dasko, who drew upon the same misinformation campaign that Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland used to denounced the film and public funding for both its production and exhibition.
“We wanted to and have made a film that is a powerful indictment against war in all its forms,” said Principe. “The unjust invasion of Ukraine continues to be deplorable in its devastation, particularly to the human beings at its front. We stand for peace. There’s been much said and written about our film, mostly by people who have not seen it.” The produced thanked the audience for coming to see the film for themselves.
The Q&A that followed the evening screening included Russians at War director Anastasia Trofimova, who explained to the crowd that she was working with the CBC’s Moscow Bureau when Russia invaded Ukraine. After CBC withdrew operations from Moscow in June 2022, Trofimova said she filmed independently. Trofimova said that she was in contact with Principe previously and they agreed that she should use her unique advantage to film because little information was coming out of Russia.
“I was doing a story about protesters, actually: protesters, their legal advisors, and human rights organizations that were trying to work in Russia despite what was going on,” explained the director. “But I knew that the story was also with the soldiers themselves because they were on the front lines actually fighting this war.”
The filmmaker explained, as she previously did to several outlets including POV, that she accessed the troops after encountering Ukrainian soldier Ilya, who was fighting for the Russian army. Trofimova added that Ilya encouraged her to join the front under the guise that she was a soldier’s wife. “I took a train to the border, I crossed and took a taxi to where they were, and then they met me there,” she said.
Trofimova also addressed charges that evidence of her support for Russia could be seen in the fact that she wore a Russian uniform during the film. She noted that the soldiers gave it to her so that she wouldn’t be shot by someone assuming she was a Ukrainian spy or be spotted as a civilian and therefore detained. Trofimova added that she would leave and walk around the woods and return after dark whenever there was an inspection. (The film includes a scene in which she hides during a personnel change.)
“One thing about war zones is that a lot of people think that they are very organized and very controlled. If you actually read a lot of the biographies of war reporters like Robert Capa, for example, you will see that people get pretty far despite not having permission,” she said, citing the work of the Hungarian-American war photographer and Magnum Photos founder who chronicled global events including World War II. “He did not have a press card, and he was a citizen of an enemy state. He was a Hungarian. It often depends on human factor. Anyone who’s filmed in war zones, they know that sometimes you can bend the rules, especially the further you get from the rear, the further that you get from headquarters. And that’s exactly what happened.”
Principe added that she knew Trofimova’s work after meeting her in February 2021 and recognized her ability to pull off a one-person shoot. The producer said that she made the pitch to TVO shortly after Trofimova went underground. “I said, ‘Look, we have a Canadian of Russian descent in Russia right now on the ground, and she’s able to get stories that no one else can get. She’s totally on her own. She knows the language, the culture, but she also has a western sensibility, so she’s able to have some larger context for what’s going on,’” explained Principe, who added that the first eight months were spent mostly filming protesters. The producer noted that a year into the edit, they were inspired to hone the story and split the material into different films. “We ended up making an anti-war film with soldiers instead of with protesters.”
The team also took questions from the audience with many attendees expressing their support for Russians at War as an anti-war film and observing that it was not a work of Russian propaganda after seeing it. Trofimova acknowledged the “PR campaign” the film received thanks to Freeland and other politicians, and encouraged them to see the film and reach their own conclusions about whether the documentary is Russian propaganda. “I’ve filmed wars,” added Trofimova. “The more I see them, the more I hate them and the more I believe in diplomacy with whatever issues diplomacy has.”
The screening ended with Trofimova fielding a question about whether she can return to Russia. “Of course not,” said Trofimova, who left the country shortly before Russians at War was announced as a selection in the Venice Film Festival.
“I’m very grateful that I had the chance to go down this rabbit hole, which I never expected to go down and to understand the ordinary people and what they’re going through here,” she added. “I have this absolutely naïve wish that I could assist more journalists and more filmmakers to film in Russia, but I understand that this is unlikely. My number one concern when I started making this movie was not my own safety, but the safety of the people who entrusted their stories and their lives.”
