Film about Russian occupiers after Venice to be shown in Toronto
The Toronto International Film Festival will screen the film Russians at War, created by Anastasia Trofimova, a former employee of the RT propaganda channel.
Ambassador of Ukraine to Canada Yulia Kovaliv announced this on the social network X, Censor.NET reports.
"Given the mission of the festival - 'to change people's perceptions of the world through cinema' - we consider this an attempt to whitewash the war crimes committed by Russian soldiers in Ukraine," the diplomat said.
Kovaliv also said that Trofimova, who previously worked for Russia Today and recently put in question the atrocities of the Russian occupiers in Bucha in Venice, deliberately distorts the realities of Russia's war against Ukraine.
"We believe that the Toronto International Film Festival, as one of the world's most famous film platforms, should not be used to spread Russian propaganda. We call on the festival to cancel the screening of this film," she added.
Kovaliv also emphasized that "the financing and protection of such a shameful ‘documentary’ can only be explained by supporting Russian propaganda and denying the thousands of war crimes committed by the Russian occupiers.
The Ukrainian Canadian Congress is demanding clarification from the Canada Media Fund, which received $340,000 through the Department of Canadian Heritage to fund Anastasia Trofimova's film Russians at War.
"The UCC is also deeply concerned about the Toronto International Film Festival's decision to screen a film that attempts to explain Russia's genocidal war against Ukraine," the statement reads.
What is known about the movie "Russians at War"
Russians at War is a Canadian documentary film directed by Anastasia Trofimova. On September 5, 2024, it was shown at the Venice Film Festival.
In an interview with the Russian media, Trofimova said that she shot the film in the occupied territories of Ukraine, in particular in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. She arrived in the war zone illegally and stayed there for about 7 months.
The Ukrainian State Film Agency condemned the screening, calling it "veiled Russian propaganda."
And the Verkhovna Rada appealed to their Canadian counterparts to not allow the film to be screened at the Toronto Film Festival.
