Facing backlash, Canadian film festival TIFF says it’s still open to screening Oct. 7 documentary

The head of the Toronto International Film Festival says he is still open to screening an Israeli documentary about Oct. 7 that had been yanked over concerns about disruption and, allegedly, about whether the filmmakers had the right to use footage created by Hamas terrorists as they attacked Israel.

Cameron Bailey denied that the film had been rejected over censorship and apologized “for any pain this situation has caused” in a statement issued late Wednesday, a day after the news emerged that “The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue” had been removed from the festival lineup.

“I recognize the concerns it has raised among members of the Jewish community and beyond,” Bailey said in the statement, adding, “It was never my intention to offend or alienate anyone.”

He said he had asked TIFF’s legal team to work with the filmmakers on “all options available” to allow the documentary, which tells the story of retired IDF General Noam Tibon’s rescue mission to save his son and his family during Hamas’ attack on Kibbutz Nahal Oz, at the festival in September.

Reports over the legal snafu that allegedly contributed to the film’s removal elicited lacerating criticism on Wednesday from both Jewish and non-Jewish voices, including members of the Toronto City Council who called the decision to remove the movie “a moral failure.”

The Israeli producer of the movie, Talia Harris Ram, said in a statement that the rights issue the festival raised was the “most absurd, horrific, disconnected claim I have encountered” in years working in international licensing. She said she saw the cancellation as part of a trend against showcasing Israeli stories — even those featuring critics of the Israeli government.

“Worrying signs began to accumulate. Anti-Israel voices, struggling to disconnect the story from politics — despite the Tibon family’s position to return the hostages and end the war — are working both inside and outside the festival to prevent the showing of an Israeli, human story on screen,” she wrote.

Bailey said he believed the story was important to share. “Given the sensitive and significant nature of the film’s subject, I believe it tells an important story and contributes to the rich tapestry of perspectives in our lineup — stories that resonate both here at home and around the world.”