Toronto Film Festival will still present the film 'Russians at War': the date is announced.
The Toronto International Film Festival has reinstated the Russian propaganda movie «Russians at War» in its program despite protests from the Ukrainian community and diplomats. According to the Institute of Mass Information, screenings are scheduled for Tuesday, September 17. This information is available on the festival's schedule on their website.
The Consul General of Ukraine in Toronto, Oleg Nikolenko, expressed outrage about the scheduled screening of the propaganda film. «The Festival's decision to resume screenings of «Russians at War» is outrageous. It was made just a few days after the Canadian government disclosed Russia's global propaganda efforts. While Canada fights against information operations and the covert influence of Russia Today - a component of Russian intelligence agencies - providing a platform to an RT veteran director undermines these efforts,» said Nikolenko.
He emphasized that the festival administration continues to ignore RT's attempts to undermine Canadian support for Ukraine by engaging local biased commentators. «All other arguments regarding context, production process, and conflict of interest are also being dismissed,» noted the consul general.
He added that the screening of «Russians at War» is a «serious blow to the festival's reputation and journalism.» «Russian propaganda should be contained, not promoted in theaters,» concluded Nikolenko.
Despite calls from the Ukrainian community, the film was included in the program of the Toronto International Film Festival, which took place in early September. Last week, about a thousand people participated in a protest demanding the cancellation of the scheduled screening, but the Festival administration initially refused, citing freedom of speech. However, later they reversed this decision and canceled all screenings of «Russians at War».
The film by Russian-Canadian director Anastasia Trofimova was previously shown at the Venice Film Festival.
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