Russian-Canadian filmmaker Anastasia Trofimova responded to protests against her controversial work at the Toronto Film Festival on Tuesday russians at war documentary ahead of its North American premiere on Friday.
Trofimova narrates hollywood reporter 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.
“Because of the geopolitical climate, these people [Russian soldiers] Just wanted to share it with someone. Yes, I’ve been there, no one else has been,” she explained. Her comments come after the Ukrainian-Canadian community protested at the Toronto Film Festival for allowing Trofimova’s film to have its North American premiere on Friday following its world premiere in Venice.
Ukrainian Canadians protest outside TIFF Lightbox.
About 400 Ukrainian Torontonians gathered outside TIFF Lightbox, the main film festival’s headquarters. They held signs that read “‘Russians at War’ defend and victimize murderers and rapists” and “Hello, TIFF?!” Russian propaganda kills.
Controversy surrounding the film first emerged at the Venice Film Festival, where it had its world premiere. After a press conference for the film at the Lido, Trofimova defended the film, sparking a backlash.
Ukrainian filmmaker Darya Bassel comes to Venice with her own documentary, slow burning earth songthe doctor who denounced Trofimova on Facebook: “This film may mislead you into believing that it is an anti-war film, a film that questions the current regime in Russia. However, what I witnessed was pure A classic example of Russian propaganda,” she wrote in a lengthy post.
A TIFF spokesperson had no comment when asked about the incident russians at war Playing at a music festival during protests. Ann Semotiuk, board member of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress in Toronto hollywood reporter Trofimova ignored Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine in her film.
“Although the director stated that she wanted to present a different perspective of the film, the perspective she adopted completely ignored the fact that Russia committed war crimes in Ukraine. She ignored the fact that Russia was the aggressor and invaded a sovereign, independent, independent country. .
Cornelia Principe Producer russians at warrefuting Trofimova’s accusations of ignoring Russian war crimes. “Nothing is whitewashed. It focuses on these people. Maybe just sympathy for a soldier who happens to be Russian, is that whitewashing?” she asked.
Ukrainian Canadians protest documentary “Russians at War” at Toronto Film Festival.
Eitan Freising
But while Semotic insists she is not opposed to independent war journalism; russians at war The documentary ignores the Ukrainian perspective. Trofimova insists her film is not meant to cover the entire Russian-Ukrainian conflict. “It’s very rare for journalists to be able to work on both sides of the front line. It’s almost impossible. I couldn’t even go to the Ukrainian side to shoot. They knew that,” she insists.
Tuesday’s Canada-Ukraine protests coincide with the film’s first press and industry screening Russians at war. Ukrainian-Canadians say they will return on Friday to protest the first public screening at the Scotiabank Theatre.
In a letter to TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey on September 5, Ukrainian Consul General Oleh Nikolenko stated that “the Toronto International Film Festival, the world’s most famous festival, is allowed to One of the movie stages was used to whitewash the responsibility of Russian soldiers for starting the war, which was an “irresponsible act” for the crimes that took place in Ukraine during Russia’s ongoing invasion. “
Also on Tuesday, Canadian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who has Ukrainian background, expressed concerns about the TIFF screening at a news conference in Ottawa russians at war. “Ukrainian diplomats and the Ukrainian-Canadian community have expressed very serious concerns about this film, and I would say I share those concerns,” Freeland said.
Producer Principe said the public screening will be held on Friday russians at war Still continuing: “TIFF has been very supportive. All of our funders have been very supportive. So nothing has changed.
The Ukrainian Canadian Congress also objected to the Canadian Media Fund and other domestic independent film financiers providing public funding for the production Russians at war. Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Freeland told reporters on Tuesday that she agreed with the criticism: “It is not right that Canadian public funds support the screening and production of a film like this.”
