The film was shot by Anastasija Trofimova, a long-time cooperation partner of the Kremlin’s propaganda channel “Russia Today”, who, in addition to Russian citizenship, also holds a Canadian passport.
Although the film is positioned as an independent work of documentary cinema, critics and commentators express doubts that the author was able to film the Russian army at the front for several months without coordination with the top management, in the conditions of total Moscow wartime censorship and repression, and the film largely leaves the impression of a staged work.
Despite widespread public protests, objections and appeals from Canadian Ukrainian organizations and Ukrainian diplomats, the film still had its North American premiere at the Toronto Film Festival on Tuesday.
Ukrainian Consul General Oleh Nikolenko said in an interview that the film is an attempt to justify the war crimes of the Russian army.
“This is very well-crafted Russian propaganda, and unfortunately the festival has shown no desire to address our concerns,” the diplomat said.
As the reporter of “Kyiv Independent” reported from Toronto, hundreds of people took to the streets of the city on Tuesday in front of the “Scotiabank” cinema, where the film was shown.
“Russia is a terrorist state” and “Shame on the Toronto festival”, chanted the protesters.
TVO’s board of directors confirmed in a statement on Tuesday that it chose to “respect the public’s reaction” to Trofimova’s film.
Its creation was financially supported by several Canadian bodies, including TVO.
Initially, TVO intended to broadcast the film “in the coming months”. However, on Tuesday, the broadcasting company announced that it would no longer support or show the film.
“TVO will evaluate the process by which this project was financed and our brand was used,” the statement said.
Canadian government officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Christy Freeland, have sharply criticized the use of public funds to support Trofimova’s film.
“It is not appropriate that Canadian public funds support the screening and production of such a film,” Freeland said at a press briefing on Tuesday.
2024-09-12 00:59:25