After her documentary caused controversy in Venice russians at war, Director Anastasia Trofimova on Tuesday postponed her film’s North American premiere in Toronto due to apparent security threats, saying she still didn’t understand the political reasons for the Russia-Ukraine war.
“The reason why I went to this war was to understand the people who were fighting. As for finding political reasons, I still don’t know,” the Russian-Canadian filmmaker, who wrote for Trofimova, said in a post-screening Q&A Defense of the film shot in a Russian Army camp in eastern Ukraine.
She was responding to a TIFF filmgoer who asked Trofimova if she had learned anything from her three years of filming russians at war. “I said, I still don’t understand the reasons behind this war. If you do this and it’s all that clear, I mean, I congratulate you. But I don’t think so. I really don’t know,” Trofimova told the questioner.
People demonstrate outside the TIFF lightbox on September 17, 2024, holding Ukrainian flags and banners.
Mert Alper Dervis/Anadolu, Getty Images)
Then when the same questioner asked if Russia was the main cause of the conflict in Central Europe, Trofimova added: “I think there are many other factors, and yes, they will definitely send troops to resolve any grievances. That’s not right. of.
While the TIFF questioner thanked Trofimova for her answer, the film’s Oscar-nominated producer Cornelia Principe also took the TIFF Lightbox stage to expand on the director’s answer. “She said that sending troops to invade a country is not the solution, right? That’s what she said,” she told the festival audience, who again thanked Trofimova for her answer.
“It seems you didn’t understand.” Trofimova said nervously on stage. At this point, Anita Lee, chief programmer of the Toronto Film Festival, concluded the post-screening Q&A.
Ivanka Tymchuk, a member of the board of directors of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress criticized russians at war As a promotional film, Trofimova was asked during the post-film Q&A whether she expressed ignorance about the politics behind the Russo-Ukrainian war.
“A filmmaker with a university degree will have an analytical mind, she will put the puzzle pieces together and understand the fact that three provinces in Ukraine were occupied by Russia, in violation of international law,” Timchuk told hollywood reporter About 200 Ukrainian-Canadian protesters were holding a vigil outside the TIFF Lightbox on Tuesday.
“(Russia’s) goal is clearly to invade Ukraine if possible,” Timchuk added. A week ago, following earlier protests against her film in Toronto, Trofimova told THR In her first-person film, she spent seven months talking to ordinary Russian soldiers in Ukraine to gain a perspective that no one else, including Russian state television or Western journalists, could capture.
People demonstrate outside the TIFF lightbox on September 17, 2024, holding Ukrainian flags and banners.
Mert Alper Dervis/Anadolu, Getty Images)
Toronto music festival organizers reschedule North American premiere to russians at war Due to security threats and political hot spots, the 2024 edition ended only a few days ago before being released on September 17. During the 2:30 p.m. screening, two Ukrainian activists watching the film briefly shouted their objections as they walked out of the cinema.
In one scene they protested inside the theater, director Trofimova asked a 19-year-old soldier why he denied that the Russian military and its country had committed war crimes, including the rape and murder of civilians.
As they walked toward the exit of the theater, protesters echoed the Ukrainian government’s assertion that more than 100,000 alleged war crimes had occurred during the conflict, including the murder and torture of civilians. When asked about the protests during a post-screening Q&A, Principe added context that was not included in the film.
“That scene was really meant to show that he didn’t know the truth of what was going on. Secondly, he was the boy who was talking to his girlfriend about her broken fingernail. I mean, if you take his words at face value in the movie, Of course not. We all know that war crimes were committed. What she (Trofimova) wants to know is whether he knew or believed that war crimes were committed,” Principe said on the TIFF Lightbox stage.
“A five-year-old child could tell that this was not a factual statement of the film. It expressed the inner state of that child when he was talking to his girlfriend about a broken fingernail. The controversy surrounding the film first emerged at the Venice Film Festival, The film had its world premiere there.
People demonstrate outside the TIFF lightbox on September 17, 2024, holding Ukrainian flags and banners.
Mert Alper Dervis/Anadolu, Getty Images)
On September 10, approximately 400 Ukrainian Torontonians gathered outside the TIFF Lightbox to protest against the media and industry’s screening of the film. They held signs that read: “russians at war Defending and Victimizing Murderers and Rapists” and “Hello, TIFF? ! Russian propaganda kills.
Canadian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who has Ukrainian background, also expressed concerns about the TIFF screening at a news conference in Ottawa. russians at war. This political heat and “significant threats to festival operations and public safety” prompted the cancellation of Trofimova’s film’s official North American premiere in Toronto between September 5 and 15, according to TIFF organizers. Another quick release followed. russians at war Screening at TIFF Lightbox on September 17th.
Screenings are also planned at the Lunenberg Film Festival in Nova Scotia russians at war Released on September 20, the Windsor Film Festival in Ontario plans to screen the Canadian-French co-production on October 25 and 26.
