An Israeli documentary about the Oct. 7 attacks will be shown at the Toronto International Film Festival, event organizers said on Thursday, reversing an earlier decision to pull the film from the festival’s lineup.
The organizers of the film festival, Canada’s largest, had canceled screenings of the documentary, which includes footage of atrocities livestreamed by Hamas fighters, earlier this week over concerns that the filmmakers had failed to secure rights to the video.
On Thursday evening, the festival’s chief executive, Cameron Bailey, and Barry Avrich, a Canadian filmmaker and a past festival board member, said in a joint statement that they had found a solution that addressed “important safety, legal, and programming concerns” that had arisen.
They did not disclose the terms of the resolution.
“We thank our audiences and community for their passion, honesty and belief in the importance of film,” Mr. Bailey and Mr. Avrich said in the statement.
The makers of the film, “The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue,” had accused the festival of censorship, an assertion that its organizers denied. Mr. Bailey apologized in the statement on Thursday evening, saying the festival had failed to “clearly articulate the concerns and roadblocks” that led to the film’s withdrawal, a decision that prompted a large backlash.
Clips of the Oct. 7 attack that were recorded by Hamas fighters are included in the documentary, which will be screened as part of the 50th edition of the film festival, which runs from Sept. 4 to Sept. 14.
Possible legal issues could arise from the screening of that footage, the festival had said in a statement. Organizers had also suggested, in comments to the news media, that the cancellation was intended to prevent disruptions.
Talia Harris Ram, one of the film’s producers, said the filmmakers had been notified that the documentary, about a retired general who rescued his family from an attack on their home, would be withdrawn because it did not have the proper “clearance to use archival footage” — in other words, she said, the “footage filmed by Hamas.”
“As someone who has dedicated her life to handling rights and intellectual property, this is the most absurd, horrific, disconnected claim I have encountered so far,” she said in a statement.
Last year, the festival was criticized for its plans to screen a documentary about Russian solders in Ukraine. Ukrainians and others denounced that film as pro-Kremlin propaganda. Organizers pulled it from the festival itself, but showed it later as part of the festival’s year-round programming.
Vjosa Isai is a reporter and researcher for The Times based in Toronto, where she covers news from across Canada.
The post In Reversal, Toronto Film Festival Will Screen Documentary About Oct. 7 Attack appeared first on New York Times.
