TIFF reverses decision, will show Oct. 7 massacre film

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Turns out the censored film about the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel will be gracing Toronto International Film Festival screens after all.

TIFF officials were expected to issue a news release on Thursday after a wild 24 hours of uncertainty and international furor.

TIFF board member John Ruffolo told the Sun on Thursday afternoon that the issue “is all resolved” and the film in question “will be exhibited as planned and even bigger than originally.

This was no easy negotiation. There were people calling for resignations and the potential of public and private sponsorships being pulled after TIFF president Cameron Bailey made the call.

The film The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue tells the story about a Jewish grandfather trying to save his granddaughters during the attack that saw more than 1,200 slaughter and hundreds kidnapped.

The news of the pulling of acclaimed director Barry Avrich’s film went international including being placed on the front page of the New York Post and talked about on Fox News.

Canada’s Jewish advocacy organizations condemned the initial decision to cancel to showing.

Richard Robertson, director of research and advocacy at B’nai Brith Canada, said Thursday’s reversal of the decision was welcome news.

“The reversal is a testament to what we can achieve when we unite to defend Canadian values. The Jewish community and its allies refused to remain silent in the face of censure and marginalization,” Robertson said. “The communal response was clear — such prejudice will not be tolerated in Canada. In this instance, the voice of reason, championed by grassroots advocates, ruled the day.”

Robertson added: “It is now incumbent upon TIFF to explain the rationale behind its initial decision, which caused immense harm to Jewish Canadians. Transparency and candour will be essential in regaining the confidence and trust of its patrons. Moving forward, TIFF must learn from its mistakes and take meaningful steps to ensure that the festival remains a truly welcoming and inclusive space.”

But in a TIFF board meeting Thursday, things got heated.

In the end, said a source in the meeting, a “good outcome” was brokered with input from Avrich and Bailey and others.

“Heather Reisman and Henry Wolfond from the Jewish community really helped work with TIFF chair Jeffrey Remedios and John Ruffolo and former mayor John Tory to get this done,” a source said.

Some tough negotiations are said to have been employed.

“Wouldn’t have happened without all of them,” said the source.

As of this filing, a planned protest at the TIFF headquarters downtown had not been postponed.

“This whole thing was very hurtful and insulting. We are still going to protest at the TIFF office because this should never have happened and can’t  be allowed to ever happen again,” said Meir Weinstein of Israel Now.

There are still many hard feelings about this — including from federal and provincial elected members.

The bottom line is there should be no censorship of directors’ works, or rewriting of history.

The point of the film festival is to create atmosphere of education and debate.

Councillors Brad Bradford and James Pasternak had previously called on TIFF to reverse its “misguided decision” to cancel the screening.

“I’m relieved that TIFF has reversed its decision and will now screen this important film. This is the right call,” Bradford said on Thursday. “But the fact it was ever pulled — silencing a Canadian filmmaker and granting legal legitimacy to a listed terrorist organization — is deeply troubling. It should not have taken a public outcry to correct this mistake.

Bradford said TIFF officials owe a public apology to the filmmaker.

“TIFF now needs to do some serious self-examination. The organization’s leadership needs to ensure that something like this is never repeated. And, equally, they need to account to the public for how this appalling decision happened in the first place — for the simple reason that TIFF receives millions of dollars from the taxpayer.”

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