The Toronto Film Fest is looking forward to a hot run next month. But there’s a wrinkle.
Last week they rejected, then reinstated Barry Avrich’s documentary, “The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue.”
Now I’m told that “The Road Between Us” will just be shown once, and there are no press or industry screenings.
All of this is great publicity for the doc which follows how on October 7, 2023 retired Israel Defense Forces General Naom Tibon sprang into action on a mission to save his family — including his two granddaughters — who were surrounded by Hamas terrorists during the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Tibon also rescued survivors of the music festival massacre and helped wounded soldiers on his journey to save his family.
TIFF executive director Cameron Bailey at first said pulling the film had to do with properly securing rights to footage. He insisted it was not about censorship or fear of protests.
But then he reversed his position after an outcry from many groups including the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation and the Creative Community for Peace.
“I want to be clear: claims that the film was rejected due to censorship are unequivocally false,” he wrote in a letter addressed to members of the TIFF community. “I remain committed to working with the filmmaker to meet TIFF’s screening requirements to allow the film to be screened at this year’s festival. I have asked our legal team to work with the filmmaker on considering all options available.”
Subsequently, Bailey and Avrich issued a joint statement agreeing the film would be shown.
Now, “The Road Between Us” will be screened once, sometime on Monday. But access for press and possible distributors will be problematic. We can only imagine security will be high and interest will be off the charts. But this is a film that must be shown and distributed, to tell the story of what happened to innocent Israelis on that terrible day.
