Two city councillors are criticizing the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) for cancelling the screening of a documentary on the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, urging organizers to overturn the decision.
On Wednesday, TIFF announced it decided to pull The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue from its lineup saying the production failed to meet general requirements to be included in the upcoming festival, including legal clearance of its footage, according to media reports.
Even though the film will still be distributed by Cineplex, organizers reportedly say the decision to pull the documentary is meant to protect TIFF from legal action and allow it to avoid disruptions during the festival since the film addresses sensitive topics.
The documentary, produced by Canadian filmmaker Barry Avrich, follows the story of Israeli military veteran Noam Tibon who fights to rescue his family from Hamas terrorists who invaded their home during the Oct. 7 assault that left 1,200 people killed and another 250 held hostage, escalating the Israel-Palestine conflict in 2023.
Despite TIFF’s decision, Toronto City Councillors James Pasternak and Brad Bradford are urging the festival to consider reversing what they call a “misguided decision.”
In a joint statement on X shared on Wednesday afternoon, the councillors called on the festival to reinstate the screenings, saying that the announcement contradicts its values and signals to filmmakers that sensitive topics are not welcome at the event.
“TIFF should not be banning or censoring films and should respect the freedoms of the arts community,” Pasternak said.
“TIFF appears to have yielded to political pressure and the fear of protests… Intimidation must not dictate which stories can be told. Silencing survivors and granting a listed terrorist organization any semblance of legal legitimacy is not neutrality – it is a moral failure,” Bradford added.
The councillors also added that if TIFF fails to reverse the measure, City Council could launch an investigation to evaluate the festival’s decision-making process.
For Immediate Release: August 13, 2025
— James Pasternak (@PasternakTO) August 13, 2025
Toronto City Councillors James Pasternak and Brad Bradford call on the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) to reverse their misguided decision to cancel the screening of ‘The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue’ pic.twitter.com/eOnhjhBiZF
This is not the first time TIFF has cancelled controversial screenings.
Last year, the festival chose to pause screenings of Russians at War, a documentary that showed Russian soldiers’ first-person experience on the frontlines in the war with Ukraine.
After Ukrainian officials and community groups spoke out against the film, accusing it of being “Russian propaganda,” the festival announced the cancellation, claiming it had received threats of activity that posed “significant risk.”
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TIFF has recently announced its 50th edition lineup, which will feature 291 movie screenings at the festival from Sep. 4–14.
