Director Barry Avrich’s film follows the mission of retired Israel Defense Forces Major-General Noam Tibon as he races from Tel Aviv to the Nahal Oz kibbutz near the Gaza border, where his son’s family resided during the Hamas attacks.Supplied
The Toronto International Film Festival is no stranger to geopolitical controversy, especially when it comes to the Middle East.
In 2009, the festival earned international headlines after Canadian filmmaker John Greyson, citing Israeli action in Gaza, pulled his short film from the lineup after organizers decided to highlight Tel Aviv cinema as part of TIFF’s City to City program. Last year’s opening night, meanwhile, was disrupted by protesters inside the Princess of Wales Theatre chanting “RBC funds genocide,” as they demonstrated against the festival’s long-time sponsor. (The 2024 slate also featured films from both Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers.)
But this year’s 50th edition of TIFF has revolved around a far larger and more inescapable flashpoint: the back-and-forth programming of a Canadian documentary about Hamas’s attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Titled The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue, director Barry Avrich’s film follows the mission of retired Israel Defense Forces Major-General Noam Tibon as he races from Tel Aviv to the Nahal Oz kibbutz near the Gaza border, where his son’s family resided during the Hamas attacks.
After TIFF pulled the film from its lineup last month, with internal communications to Avrich from festival chief executive Cameron Bailey citing “the risk of major, disruptive protest actions around the film’s presence at the festival, including internal opposition,” the two sides resolved issues surrounding the project, with the film now set to make its world premiere in Toronto Sept. 10.
Ahead of the screening, Avrich and Tibon, who will both attend the Roy Thomson Hall premiere, spoke with The Globe and Mail in an exclusive joint interview to discuss the film’s production and its festival inclusion.
Noam, you’ve recounted your story to other news sources before, including 60 Minutes. Was there ever any reticence for you in reliving that day for this film in such an in-depth manner?
Noam Tibon: I did this journey many times, but because this was a real movie, and because Barry took it slowly, step by step, professionally, it felt right. Sometimes it’s easier to tell somebody who is not family or a friend. You can face again what happened.
Barry, did you ever think about partnering with Israeli filmmakers on this?
Barry Avrich: I didn’t, because I wanted to tell the story through my eyes as a Canadian filmmaker and I didn’t want any political bias or any political agendas attached to the film. If you look at my work, which is all over the place from pop culture to crime and scandal, I’m attracted to a great story, and I saw The Road Between Us as the road between Noam and his family. I didn’t see anything else outside that story. When I heard it, it wasn’t me feeling that I had to tell this important political story. I was just attracted to the question of, “What would I have done?” There’s been a lot of mischaracterization about if this film is a political film, an Israeli film. It’s not. I’m a guy in Canada who is attracted to a great story.
Tibon: If we would take somebody from Israel to do this movie, he would come away with a political agenda. And the way Barry came in, it was like a wind from the sea: totally clean. We were in Israel, but not working according to the Israeli standard. It was much, much higher.
Noam, what do you make of the back-and-forth decision-making regarding the film’s inclusion in the Toronto film festival?
Tibon: I was very disappointed, because as Barry said, this is a story about a family, something which everybody in the world can understand. I felt it was nothing about a political agenda – we didn’t say one word of politics. But I was humbled by the way I saw people in Canada react. This is a Canadian movie, a Canadian festival. We felt it was a mistake. And I can tell you, the excuse of the rights [clearance] and Hamas? Well, I don’t want to use bad language. I hope that so many people will come and watch the movie.
That said, it seems like the film is destined to spark some kind of protest action. What would you say to those who contend that a festival such as Toronto should not program or platform a film about Israeli military action at a time when the war is still raging, when authorities like the World Food Program report that the area is gripped by famine, when there are images that are coming out of Gaza that are devastating to look at?
Avrich: My feeling about art is, if you’re going to protest art, where does it start and where does it stop? If you don’t want to see this film, don’t go. Protesting a film seems such an unusual path to take to make a point. I’m not against freedom of speech or protest. This film is not draped in an Israeli flag. It is draped in a flag of heroism of a family, and that’s it. It’s not a military film or promoting military action. It is about a man and a wife who exhibited heroism to save their family that could have happened on any side of any border, and in any country. I go back to the film festival’s mission statement, which says we defend the artistic freedom of filmmakers, and dialogue and debate. Watch the film, and make up your own mind.
Tibon: I hope they will understand a little bit more about what happened on Oct. 7 through my story. But it’s the story of the Tibon family, and kibbutz Nahal Oz. It’s not the state of Israel against Hamas.
Barry, how has the film changed, if at all, from the time you first screened it for TIFF consideration to the version that will premiere Sept. 10?
Avrich: There are a couple things. The festival wanted to ensure that, when we had Hamas terrorist footage that was widely streamed live on body cameras, the festival wanted clarity in that footage being clearly identified in the film as being live-streamed from Hamas. In the cut they saw, we didn’t have our [superimposed titles] that said the origin of the footage. And there were concerns that the title, which was originally Out of Nowhere, might be a trigger. This title came from Noam – when we were filming, he recounted when he saw survivors from the Nova festival come out of the bushes, and it was jarring. He made the comment “out of nowhere,” and the title stuck with me, and it was the title on the rough cut. But the festival thought it could be confusing – their words. That the conflict came “out of nowhere.” I’ve changed the title on many films along the way, and I thought about it for a very long time, and ultimately I prefer The Road Between Us.
The film is getting a single showing on Sept. 10, with no additional screenings or separate press and industry screenings, which is usually the case with festival selections, though not always. What are your thoughts on that?
Avrich: When they withdrew the film and there was this global reaction … I just let that ignite. I didn’t give any interviews, and I let it build. Whether you were Jewish or not, it just seemed outrageous that you would silence a voice. Have a balance in the festival. You want to tell any story, tell it. So what then began was a process to find a path on how we were going to show the film. And it was a process – how about this theatre, this day, these conditions? I remained firm, and just said I wanted to be treated equally with every other film. Ultimately, are we? No, and I had to make that decision at some point. Roy Thomson Hall, 1,800 seats, is probably more seats than I would have had with a press and industry screening and second screening cumulatively. Okay, I can live with that. To me, the victory was ensuring the film festival apologized to us, and reversed their decision.
Noam, I know you say that this is not a political film, keep the politics out of it. But at the end of the film, you and your wife, Gali, do make statements referencing how Israel has lost its purpose, lost its original goal, yet we don’t hear exactly where you think the state should go next. What are your thoughts on the future of the country?
Tibon: You know, I’m very involved in Israel, but on this movie, I want to stay in the story, the story of a family. I really believe that is the main issue.
Avrich: There’s so much noise out there … I just hope that the film resonates with people on a level of humanity.
This interview has been condensed and edited.
The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue premieres at TIFF on Sept. 10.
