Russians at War international scandal continues: Canada will still screen the movie that justifies the occupiers

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in Canada is over, but the scandal over the screening of the propaganda film Russians at War by Russian-Canadian director Anastasia Trofimova is still ongoing. Although the organization refused to broadcast the film during the festival, it found a loophole and will show it on another day.

This scandal has reached the international level and, in addition to the protests of people in Toronto, the Ukrainian government has joined in. The Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications has listed the director as a person who poses a threat to Ukraine's national security, the ministry's website says.

"The former employee of the propaganda channel Russia Today was included in this list, in particular, for the documentary film Russians at War, which she directed. Although the film was screened at the Venice Film Festival, it was banned at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). After the first screening, the film was withdrawn from the program due to security measures caused by the outrage of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Ukrainian and foreign government officials," MCIP reported.

The film Russians at War clearly has a propagandistic vibe, especially since, as we know, the director worked for Russia Today TV channel in Russia, so she knows how to manipulate information well. With her movie, she wanted to show that Russians are not as cruel as Ukrainians and foreign influencers say they are. However, she does not dare to depict the numerous rapes, abuses, and murders committed by the occupiers.

"The film also promotes the idea that this war is a 'conflict between two fraternal peoples' and that Russians are allegedly just as much its victims as Ukrainians, which is unacceptable in the context of the real events taking place in Ukraine. Every such product that distorts reality or absolves the aggressor of responsibility is a threat to all those who are fighting for their freedom and dignity," the ministry explains.

Despite all the warnings, the Canadian government has previously allocated 340 Canadian dollars for the filming of Russians at War, so the organizers are trying to win the right to show the project to the world. The scandal over the film did not subside throughout the festival, so the film was canceled until it was "safe to screen." It was supposed to be shown three times from September 13 to 15, but was still canceled.

As we can see, it became "safe" too soon, and the organizers decided to show the project on September 17. On the TIFF website, you can buy a ticket for the movie for two different times.

As reported, the film Russians at War was screened at the Venice Film Festival in Italy. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine condemned the premiere of the pro-Russian film and noted that its screening was offensive to the victims of the war unleashed by Russia on Ukrainian soil.

Earlier, the distribution of the film, which was intended to "whitewash" the reputation of the occupiers and destroy "stereotypical impressions" of them, also caused outrage among representatives of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. In particular, the director Anastasia Trofimova most likely did not have permission to visit the territories of Ukraine that are currently under occupation by the enemy army.

After massive protests, the planned screening was indeed canceled, but it concerned only television, not the film festival.

Then TIFF canceled the premiere of Russians at War at the festival, but not because of Ukrainians' outrage. The reason for this was the fear of a security threat at the event.

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