A group of activists placed small rolled-up blankets smeared with fake blood – staged to resemble dead infants – in front of the TIFF entrance sign.Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press
Protesters had a brief standoff with police on Toronto International Film Festival’s main strip on Saturday as they demonstrated against the screening of a film centred on a retired Israeli general.
A group of activists wearing kaffiyehs and waving Palestinian flags gathered around the TIFF sign at King Street and University Avenue, placing small rolled-up blankets smeared with fake blood – staged to resemble dead infants – at its base.
The protest broke out just as ticket holders were beginning to enter the nearby Roy Thompson Hall for the early evening premiere of crime drama Roofman. Police stood blocking demonstrators at the intersection, preventing them from moving any further.
Several protesters said they were rallying against Barry Avrich’s “The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue,” a film about retired Israel Defense Forces Major-General Noam Tibon’s mission to rescue his family during the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, 2023.
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The documentary’s team told The Canadian Press last month that they are not political filmmakers, nor activists but storytellers.
They added that films are meant to stimulate “debate from every perspective that can both entertain us and make us uncomfortable.”
The documentary was initially pulled from TIFF’s lineup over footage rights and security issues, sparking backlash from some politicians, Jewish groups, and entertainment figures.
Days later, TIFF reinstated the film and promised clearer communication around their programming decisions.
Neither TIFF nor the Road Between Us team immediately responded to requests for comment Saturday.
Some protesters also decried government inaction as Israeli strikes continue in Gaza and not enough aid is being allowed in.
Protester Mohammad Latifa Abdul Qader said he was concerned about TIFF “art-washing” Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza.
“Art shouldn’t be used for promoting genocide. It should be a platform for promoting things of integrity, like justice and peace, and helping people,” he said.
The CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival apologized for pulling and then reinstating Montreal filmmaker Barry Avrich’s documentary about a retired Israeli general’s mission to rescue his family during the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, 2023. Cameron Bailey spoke at an event touting the festival’s Canadian lineup.
The Canadian Press
Najlaa Alzaanin, a Gaza native, said she was demonstrating to urge Canada’s government to take action.
“My entire family is still trapped in Gaza… and now they are being starved,” said Alzaanin, who came to Canada from Palestine as a student in 2019.
“I’m here to show support for my family and ask the Canadian government to do what they have to do to end this genocide.”
She said she also wants the government to fulfill a promise it made last year when it announced a special measures program to help bring those impacted by the Gaza crisis to Canada.
“Canada hasn’t fulfilled the promise they made,” she said.
“Our families are living a nightmare trying to survive. They are literally dying every minute.”
Police said there were about 12 protesters on festival street, and they left on their own. The Canadian Press video shows at least a couple of dozen people at one point in the demonstration.
More than 64,000 Palestinians have been killed in the nearly two-year war in the Gaza Strip, local health officials said Thursday.
The war began when Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted 251 hostages.
Protesters said they had not yet seen The Road Between Us, which makes its world premiere next Wednesday.