In mid-September 2024, VideoAge received a statement from Route 504, the Toronto-based PR company for Raja Pictures/CAPA Press, the producers of the 120-minute documentary Russians at War. The film had already raised controversy at the Venice Film Festival, where it premiered. The Route 504 statement decried TIFF’s decision to “pause its screenings of Russians at War due to extreme security concerns.”
The pause was in response to the Toronto protests, similar to those staged in Venice. According to Rouse 504, “the protesters were threatening the security of the festival.” They added: “While the majority of the protesters were peaceful, there were a select few who were very aggressive.”
Subsequently, TIFF re-instated the screening and VideoAge reporters received a link to a streaming site to screen it. The film, directed by Russian-Canadian Anastasia Trofimova, who was also the on-camera commentator, was produced in association with Canada’s public TV station, TVO, with the support of Canada Media Fund, Rogers Documentary Fund, and France’s CNC.
The film was from the point of view of Russian soldiers sent to combat in Ukraine, but there was no mention of the fact that Russia invaded a sovereign country. The thrust of the film was to humanize the plight of Russian soldiers, and followed a Ukrainian man who decided to fight for Russia against his people, while Russian recruits explained that they volunteered to “fight Nazism.”
It was pointed out by VideoAge reviewers that Route 504 fell for an insidious propaganda film disguised as an anti-war film. To that, a rep for the PR film simply answered: “That’s just unequivocally not true.”
Pictured above: Protesters demonstrating against the screening of the Russian propaganda film at the Toronto International Film Festival
Consider the source.
Like some of us were taught in journalism.
And, ‘follow the money’ might also apply. Not the subsequent funders who were exploited. We use to call them, “useful fools”.