After removing from its lineup earlier this week a documentary about the Hamas-led terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023, the Toronto International Film Festival appeared to retreat on Thursday after blowback over its decision, denying that it had censored the film.

“I want to be clear: Claims that the film was rejected due to censorship are unequivocally false,” TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey said in a post to X.

“I remain committed to working with the filmmaker to meet TIFF’s screening requirements to allow the film to be screened at this year’s festival. I have asked our legal team to work with the filmmaker on considering all options available,” he continued.

A TIFF spokesman told Deadline, an online Hollywood news site, on Tuesday: “The invitation for the Canadian documentary film ‘The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue’ was withdrawn by TIFF because general requirements for inclusion in the festival, and conditions that were requested when the film was initially invited, were not met, including legal clearance of all footage.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar criticized and satirized the decision, writing on X on Wednesday that it was made because “there was no ‘legal clearance’ from Hamas for their GoPro massacre videos.”

The festival, he added, “would have asked Hitler or Goebbels for copyright on Auschwitz footage,” adding, “Of course, the festival is about to screen five Palestinian films. This vicious and sickening decision must be canceled immediately!”

The movie, directed by Canadian filmmaker Barry Avrich, focuses on Israel Defense Forces Maj. Gen. (res.) Noam Tibon, who saved his family, including his two granddaughters, from the Hamas massacre.

Tibon also extracted survivors of the Supernova music festival attack and rescued wounded soldiers during his mission to save his family.

Sources told Deadline that TIFF pulled the film also due to the risk of anti-Israel protests at the festival, which is scheduled for Sept. 4-14.

The filmmakers behind “The Road Between Us” told Deadline: “We are shocked and saddened that a venerable film festival has defied its mission and censored its own programming by refusing this film.

“Film is an art form that stimulates debate from every perspective that can both entertain us and make us uncomfortable,” they said. “A film festival lays out the feast and the audience decides what they will or won’t see. We are not political filmmakers, nor are we activists.

“We are storytellers. We remain defiant, we will release the film, and we invite audiences, broadcasters and streamers to make up their own mind, once they have seen it,” the filmmakers’ vowed.

The filmmakers were reportedly asked to confirm that all footage used in the documentary was legally cleared, including from Hamas body cams, and to provide additional security during the screening. 

Image - TIFF Lightbox is the headquarters for the Toronto International Film Festival. Credit: Raysonho via Wikimedia Commons