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TIFF drops screenings of Russian soldiers documentary following 'significant threats'
Author of the article:Spiro Papuckoski
Published Sep 12, 2024 • Last updated 2 days ago • 2 minute read
The Toronto International Film Festival has decided not to screen a documentary about Russian soldiers this weekend after being made aware of “significant threats” to the festival’s operations.
TIFF said withdrawing the Friday, Saturday and Sunday screenings of Russians at War was an “unprecedented move” for the festival.
The decision comes a day after organizers issued a statement supporting the screening following criticisms from the Ukrainian community claiming the film was Russian propaganda that whitewashes the responsibility of Russian soldiers committing war crimes.
TIFF said the film is an official Canada-France co-production with funding from several Canadian agencies, at both the federal and provincial level. It added that the festival is unaware of participation by any Russian government agencies.
“While we stand firm on our statement shared [Wednesday], this decision has been made in order to ensure the safety of all festival guests, staff, and volunteers,” the festival said in a statement Thursday afternoon.
Organizers said they acknowledge and respect the concerns expressed by the community and support civil discourse and differences of opinion.
“However, we have received reports indicating potential activity in the coming days that pose significant risk; given the severity of these concerns, we cannot proceed as planned,” organizers said.
“This has been an incredibly difficult decision. When we select films, we’re guided by TIFF’s mission, our values, and our programming principles. We believe this film has earned a place in our festival’s lineup, and we are committed to screening it when it is safe to do so.”
At Tuesday afternoon’s press and industry screening for the film, a large group gathered outside the Scotiabank Theatre’s entrance and chanted “Shame on TIFF” while protesting the documentary.
Also Tuesday, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland denounced the use of public money to fund the film.
“It’s not right for Canadian public money to be supporting the screening and production of a film like this,” Freeland told reporters in Nanaimo, B.C.
TIFF responded by saying in no way should the film be considered Russian propaganda.
“While we understand the concerns expressed by many, we believe, like the Venice Film Festival and other international festivals who have programmed the film, that this Canadian documentary merits a place in our selection.”
Organizers added that they “stand for the right of artists and cultural workers to express fair political comment freely and oppose censorship” while they understand the suffering of the Ukrainian people following Russia’s illegal invasion in February 2022.
tiff.net
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Spiro Papuckoski
Published Sep 12, 2024 • Last updated 2 days ago • 2 minute read
The Toronto International Film Festival has decided not to screen a documentary about Russian soldiers this weekend after being made aware of “significant threats” to the festival’s operations.
TIFF said withdrawing the Friday, Saturday and Sunday screenings of Russians at War was an “unprecedented move” for the festival.
The decision comes a day after organizers issued a statement supporting the screening following criticisms from the Ukrainian community claiming the film was Russian propaganda that whitewashes the responsibility of Russian soldiers committing war crimes.
TIFF said the film is an official Canada-France co-production with funding from several Canadian agencies, at both the federal and provincial level. It added that the festival is unaware of participation by any Russian government agencies.
“While we stand firm on our statement shared [Wednesday], this decision has been made in order to ensure the safety of all festival guests, staff, and volunteers,” the festival said in a statement Thursday afternoon.
Organizers said they acknowledge and respect the concerns expressed by the community and support civil discourse and differences of opinion.
“However, we have received reports indicating potential activity in the coming days that pose significant risk; given the severity of these concerns, we cannot proceed as planned,” organizers said.
“This has been an incredibly difficult decision. When we select films, we’re guided by TIFF’s mission, our values, and our programming principles. We believe this film has earned a place in our festival’s lineup, and we are committed to screening it when it is safe to do so.”
At Tuesday afternoon’s press and industry screening for the film, a large group gathered outside the Scotiabank Theatre’s entrance and chanted “Shame on TIFF” while protesting the documentary.
Also Tuesday, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland denounced the use of public money to fund the film.
“It’s not right for Canadian public money to be supporting the screening and production of a film like this,” Freeland told reporters in Nanaimo, B.C.
TIFF responded by saying in no way should the film be considered Russian propaganda.
“While we understand the concerns expressed by many, we believe, like the Venice Film Festival and other international festivals who have programmed the film, that this Canadian documentary merits a place in our selection.”
Organizers added that they “stand for the right of artists and cultural workers to express fair political comment freely and oppose censorship” while they understand the suffering of the Ukrainian people following Russia’s illegal invasion in February 2022.
TIFF Statement regarding the Canadian documentary Russians at War
TIFF is a charitable cultural organization with a mission to transform the way people see the world, through film.
tiff.net
TIFF drops screenings of Russian soldiers documentary following 'significant threats'
TIFF has decided not to screen a film about Russian soldiers after being made aware of "significant threats."
Key Ukrainian city loses water supply and gas for cooking and heating during Russian onslaught
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Illia Novikov
Published Sep 12, 2024 • 3 minute read
KYIV, Ukraine — The key eastern Ukraine city of Pokrovsk is without a drinking water supply or natural gas for cooking and heating, authorities said Thursday, as the Russian army’s attritional slog across the Donetsk region lays waste to public infrastructure and forces civilians to flee their homes.
A water filtration station in Pokrovsk was damaged in recent fighting, and more than 300 hastily drilled water wells are the city’s last source of drinking water, Donetsk regional Gov. Vadym Filashkin said.
The previous day, Russians destroyed a natural gas distribution station near Pokrovsk, Filashkin said. Some 18,000 people remain in the city, including 522 children, he said. More than 20,000 people have left in the past six weeks as Russian forces creep closer to residential areas, Filashkin said.
“Evacuation is the only … choice for civilians,” he added.
Pokrovsk is one of Ukraine’s main defensive strongholds and a key logistics hub in the Donetsk region, which lies on part of the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line. Its capture would compromise Ukraine’s defensive abilities and supply routes and would bring Russia closer to its stated goal of capturing the entire Donetsk region, which it partially occupies.
Russian troops backed by artillery and powerful glide bombs have turned Donetsk cities and towns such as Bakhmut and Avdiivka into bombed-out shells, though the push has cost Russia heavily in troops and armor.
Ukrainian forces have held out as long as possible, even when strongholds such as Chasiv Yar appeared to be in danger of imminent collapse. Ukraine has also launched a daring incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, partly in the hope that Russia will divert its troops there from Donetsk.
But Russian Maj. Gen. Apti Alaudinov said troops had recaptured 10 settlements in Kursk and caused the Ukrainian army heavy losses, Russian state news agency Tass reported Thursday. It was not possible to independently verify the claim.
Russia has fired missile and drone barrages at Ukraine just about every day since the war began in February 2022, aiming especially at the power grid and potentially dooming Ukrainians to a bitterly cold winter this year.
The United States and Britain pledged nearly $1.5 billion in additional aid to Ukraine on Wednesday during a visit to Kyiv by their top diplomats. Much of that will go to restoring the electricity supply.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “we’re again seeing Putin dust off his winter playbook, targeting Ukrainian energy and electricity systems to weaponize the cold against the Ukrainian people.”
An overnight drone attack on Konotop, a town in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region, largely knocked out the electricity supply, regional officials said.
The blasts also blew out an “incredibly high number” of windows in the city and damaged many of the town’s tram tracks, Mayor Artem Semenikhin said.
Russia launched a total of 64 Shahed drones and five missiles over eastern, central, and northern regions of Ukraine, Ukraine’s air force said in its Thursday morning report.
Ukraine has expressed frustration that its Western partners won’t let it use sophisticated modern weapons they supply to hit places inside Russia where the missiles and drones are launched from. Some Western leaders fear that would trigger an escalation of the war.
But after Iran recently supplied ballistic missiles to Russia, according to the U.S., those rules of engagement could be set to change in coming days as heavier Russian bombardments could swamp Ukraine’s meager air defenses.
In other developments, Ukrainian Military Intelligence claimed to have shot down a Russian Su-30SM jet over the Black Sea.
A post on the agency’s social media Thursday said the warplane was hit with a portable surface-to-air missile.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Illia Novikov
Published Sep 12, 2024 • 3 minute read
KYIV, Ukraine — The key eastern Ukraine city of Pokrovsk is without a drinking water supply or natural gas for cooking and heating, authorities said Thursday, as the Russian army’s attritional slog across the Donetsk region lays waste to public infrastructure and forces civilians to flee their homes.
A water filtration station in Pokrovsk was damaged in recent fighting, and more than 300 hastily drilled water wells are the city’s last source of drinking water, Donetsk regional Gov. Vadym Filashkin said.
The previous day, Russians destroyed a natural gas distribution station near Pokrovsk, Filashkin said. Some 18,000 people remain in the city, including 522 children, he said. More than 20,000 people have left in the past six weeks as Russian forces creep closer to residential areas, Filashkin said.
“Evacuation is the only … choice for civilians,” he added.
Pokrovsk is one of Ukraine’s main defensive strongholds and a key logistics hub in the Donetsk region, which lies on part of the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line. Its capture would compromise Ukraine’s defensive abilities and supply routes and would bring Russia closer to its stated goal of capturing the entire Donetsk region, which it partially occupies.
Russian troops backed by artillery and powerful glide bombs have turned Donetsk cities and towns such as Bakhmut and Avdiivka into bombed-out shells, though the push has cost Russia heavily in troops and armor.
Ukrainian forces have held out as long as possible, even when strongholds such as Chasiv Yar appeared to be in danger of imminent collapse. Ukraine has also launched a daring incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, partly in the hope that Russia will divert its troops there from Donetsk.
But Russian Maj. Gen. Apti Alaudinov said troops had recaptured 10 settlements in Kursk and caused the Ukrainian army heavy losses, Russian state news agency Tass reported Thursday. It was not possible to independently verify the claim.
Russia has fired missile and drone barrages at Ukraine just about every day since the war began in February 2022, aiming especially at the power grid and potentially dooming Ukrainians to a bitterly cold winter this year.
The United States and Britain pledged nearly $1.5 billion in additional aid to Ukraine on Wednesday during a visit to Kyiv by their top diplomats. Much of that will go to restoring the electricity supply.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “we’re again seeing Putin dust off his winter playbook, targeting Ukrainian energy and electricity systems to weaponize the cold against the Ukrainian people.”
An overnight drone attack on Konotop, a town in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region, largely knocked out the electricity supply, regional officials said.
The blasts also blew out an “incredibly high number” of windows in the city and damaged many of the town’s tram tracks, Mayor Artem Semenikhin said.
Russia launched a total of 64 Shahed drones and five missiles over eastern, central, and northern regions of Ukraine, Ukraine’s air force said in its Thursday morning report.
Ukraine has expressed frustration that its Western partners won’t let it use sophisticated modern weapons they supply to hit places inside Russia where the missiles and drones are launched from. Some Western leaders fear that would trigger an escalation of the war.
But after Iran recently supplied ballistic missiles to Russia, according to the U.S., those rules of engagement could be set to change in coming days as heavier Russian bombardments could swamp Ukraine’s meager air defenses.
In other developments, Ukrainian Military Intelligence claimed to have shot down a Russian Su-30SM jet over the Black Sea.
A post on the agency’s social media Thursday said the warplane was hit with a portable surface-to-air missile.
Key Ukrainian city loses water supply and gas for cooking and heating during Russian onslaught
The key eastern Ukraine city of Pokrovsk is without a drinking water supply or natural gas for cooking and heating
Red Cross staff members killed in Ukraine as country warned of severe winter health crisis
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Alex Babenko And Jamey Keaten
Published Sep 12, 2024 • 2 minute read
KYIV, Ukraine — The World Health Organization issued a stark warning on Thursday about a potential health crisis in Ukraine as the country faces its third winter of war since Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The warning came as three Red Cross staff members were killed by artillery strikes in eastern Ukraine Thursday. The deadly strikes, which left two others wounded, hit a Red Cross truck that was delivering firewood in the war-divided Donetsk region, the organization said.
Photos released by local police showed the truck engulfed in flames.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed Russia for the attack, which he said warranted a “firm and fundamental” response from the international community.
Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, added: “Our hearts are broken today as we mourn the loss of our colleagues and care for the injured. This tragedy unleashes a wave of grief all too familiar to those who have lost loved ones in armed conflict.”
Relief agencies and Western governments are ramping up civilian aid to Ukraine to protect its hospitals and power systems ahead of the winter as Russia continues daily airstrikes across the country to try and cripple its electricity infrastructure. The World Health Organization warned Thursday that the severe damage to energy and health facilities is leaving millions vulnerable as temperatures drop.
“Ukraine is approaching its third winter amid a full-scale war _ likely its most challenging yet. The renewed focus on health is more critical than ever,” Hans Kluge, the WHO’s regional director for Europe, told reporters in Kyiv.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the U.N. agency has recorded nearly 2,000 attacks on Ukraine’s health care infrastructure, which it said is having a severe impact on the largely public health system.
“Targeted attacks have damaged Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Frequent power outages are already taking a toll with danger signs for the winter,” Kluge said after a visit to front-line regions in eastern Ukraine.
“This could jeopardize the storage and distribution of vaccines, leading to a rise in vaccine-preventable diseases,” he said. Other concerns, he said, included possible contamination of the water system due to frequent power outages and growing signs of antimicrobial resistance because of a misuse of antibiotics.
“We have stories of wounds that simply will not heal due to resistance to antibiotics,” Kluge said. “This could have consequences far beyond Ukraine if drugs become ineffective.”
WHO plans to install 15 heating units at hospitals at risk of further attack as well as a network of treatment clinics in areas where health care access is difficult, as part of initiatives by local Ukrainian authorities and Western governments. The agency is also racing to provide generators and other backup power options, and also help implement state-planned health system reforms.
Early work on those projects, Kluge said, focused on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city in the east, which has come under frequent Russian attack. Earlier this week, the agency also announced that it had organized the donation of 23 ambulances to assist medical services in mostly front-line areas.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Alex Babenko And Jamey Keaten
Published Sep 12, 2024 • 2 minute read
KYIV, Ukraine — The World Health Organization issued a stark warning on Thursday about a potential health crisis in Ukraine as the country faces its third winter of war since Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The warning came as three Red Cross staff members were killed by artillery strikes in eastern Ukraine Thursday. The deadly strikes, which left two others wounded, hit a Red Cross truck that was delivering firewood in the war-divided Donetsk region, the organization said.
Photos released by local police showed the truck engulfed in flames.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed Russia for the attack, which he said warranted a “firm and fundamental” response from the international community.
Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, added: “Our hearts are broken today as we mourn the loss of our colleagues and care for the injured. This tragedy unleashes a wave of grief all too familiar to those who have lost loved ones in armed conflict.”
Relief agencies and Western governments are ramping up civilian aid to Ukraine to protect its hospitals and power systems ahead of the winter as Russia continues daily airstrikes across the country to try and cripple its electricity infrastructure. The World Health Organization warned Thursday that the severe damage to energy and health facilities is leaving millions vulnerable as temperatures drop.
“Ukraine is approaching its third winter amid a full-scale war _ likely its most challenging yet. The renewed focus on health is more critical than ever,” Hans Kluge, the WHO’s regional director for Europe, told reporters in Kyiv.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the U.N. agency has recorded nearly 2,000 attacks on Ukraine’s health care infrastructure, which it said is having a severe impact on the largely public health system.
“Targeted attacks have damaged Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Frequent power outages are already taking a toll with danger signs for the winter,” Kluge said after a visit to front-line regions in eastern Ukraine.
“This could jeopardize the storage and distribution of vaccines, leading to a rise in vaccine-preventable diseases,” he said. Other concerns, he said, included possible contamination of the water system due to frequent power outages and growing signs of antimicrobial resistance because of a misuse of antibiotics.
“We have stories of wounds that simply will not heal due to resistance to antibiotics,” Kluge said. “This could have consequences far beyond Ukraine if drugs become ineffective.”
WHO plans to install 15 heating units at hospitals at risk of further attack as well as a network of treatment clinics in areas where health care access is difficult, as part of initiatives by local Ukrainian authorities and Western governments. The agency is also racing to provide generators and other backup power options, and also help implement state-planned health system reforms.
Early work on those projects, Kluge said, focused on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city in the east, which has come under frequent Russian attack. Earlier this week, the agency also announced that it had organized the donation of 23 ambulances to assist medical services in mostly front-line areas.
Red Cross staff members killed in Ukraine as country warned of severe winter health crisis
The World Health Organization issued a stark warning about a potential health crisis in Ukraine as the country faces its third winter of war
This I believe is the truth with Trump always saying peace through strength quoting Reagan, he also supports lend/lease giving Ukraine all the equipment they need with 50 years to hand the equipment back or pay for them interest free. Btw Trump was the first to send lethal aid to Ukraine not just blankets
🤯 Dominik Tarczynski Dropping Some Truth | EU Parliament #europeanparliament #europe #eu
🚨 Dominik Tarczyński dropping some truth bombs on the FAILURE of the European Parliament! 💥💣 It's time to wake up and smell the incompetence, folks! #EUFa...
www.youtube.com
Poland calls for end to EU benefits for Ukrainian men of fighting age
Poland's foreign minister wants social security benefits for Ukrainian male refugees in the EU to stop, saying it encourages draft dodgers in Ukraine.
www.euronews.com
Western missiles on Russia is a go as is NATO.
Sweden recently sent Grippen fighter jet parts to Ukraine when Ukraine doesn't have Grippens but NATO does.
Sweden recently sent Grippen fighter jet parts to Ukraine when Ukraine doesn't have Grippens but NATO does.
TVO under scrutiny for funding, then pulling Russian war documentary
TIFF organizers suspended all screenings this week due to 'significant threats' to festival operations
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Sonja Puzic
Published Sep 13, 2024 • Last updated 2 days ago • 4 minute read
TORONTO — Ongoing controversy over the documentary “Russians at War” has brought scrutiny to Ontario’s public broadcaster, which has said it will not air the film it helped fund.
One media expert says TVO is getting “the worst of all worlds” by investing in a project that can no longer be shown or monetized.
“TVO created a thing which their audience doesn’t get to see, other audiences will get to see and they’ve footed the bill and gotten no reward for it,” Chris Arsenault, chair of Western University’s master of media in journalism and communication program, said in an interview.
“I can’t think of a worse outcome for a network than what’s happened.”
“Russians at War,” a film rebuked by the Ukrainian community and some Canadian politicians, was part of the Toronto International Film Festival’s lineup until organizers suspended all screenings this week due to “significant threats” to festival operations. The film, which recently screened at the Venice Film Festival and is headed to the Windsor International Film Festival next month, shows the disillusionment of some Russian soldiers on the front lines of the war in Ukraine.
TVO had planned to air the documentary in the coming months, but the network’s board of directors withdrew support for the film on Tuesday, citing feedback it received. The Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Ukraine’s consul-general in Toronto and others have called the film Russian propaganda and a “whitewashing” of Russian military war crimes in Ukraine — claims the film’s producers and TIFF have rejected.
The TVO board’s announcement came just days after the network defended the film as “antiwar” at its core. It was an about-face the Documentary Organization of Canada said “poses a serious threat” to media independence and raises questions about political interference.
TVO has not responded to requests for comment and board chair Chris Day declined to elaborate on the decision to pull the film.
“Suffice it to say, we heard significant concerns and we responded,” Day wrote to The Canadian Press in an emailed response to an interview request.
Arsenault, who has not seen the documentary and could not comment on its content, said he’s nevertheless worried about the spectre of board intervention in independent editorial decisions, which he said “opens the doors” to further meddling in the production of documentaries and journalism.
“Russians at War,” a Canada-France co-production, was funded in part by the Canada Media Fund, which provided $340,000 for the project through its broadcaster envelope program. A spokesperson for the fund said TVO independently chose to use that money to support the production of the documentary.
One of the film’s producers, Cornelia Principe, said that TVO also had to pay a licensing fee to air the documentary. Such fees can range from $50,000 to $100,000, she said.
Principe, who has defended the documentary and its Canadian-Russian director Anastasia Trofimova, said she was shocked by the TVO board’s decision.
“Anastasia and I have been working with TVO on this for two and a half years…. I was a little bit out of it for hours. I just couldn’t believe it.”
What happens next, she said, is “uncharted territory” for TVO.
“This has, as far as I know, never happened before,” said Principe, who has worked with the broadcaster on various documentaries over the years.
TVO’s board has said the network will be “reviewing the process by which this project was funded and our brand leveraged.”
Charlie Keil, a professor at the University of Toronto’s Cinema Studies Institute, said the TVO board needs to explain why it took “kind of a sledgehammer” to a film that seems to have been adequately vetted on the editorial side.
“It seems to me if they were being honest, what (the) TVO board would be saying is: “There’s a lot of pressure now. We don’t really like this … We’re just going to bail,” Keil said in an interview.
Ontario’s Minister of Education Jill Dunlop said in a statement that the decision made by TVO’s board of directors “was the right thing to do,” but did not elaborate.
As a non-profit government agency, TVO has a mandate to distribute educational materials and programs but the ministry is not involved with its broadcasting arm due to CRTC licensing rules.
Another public broadcaster, British Columbia’s Knowledge Network, has confirmed that it made a licence fee contribution of $15,000 for “Russians at War” so that it can be a “second window” broadcaster for the film.
Asked whether the documentary will still air at some point in British Columbia, a spokesperson for the network said it’s “working on a public response.”
Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland has denounced the use of public funds for “Russians at War,” saying she shares the “grave concerns” Ukrainian officials and community members in Canada have raised about the film.
The Ukrainian Canadian Congress has said it will keep protesting “Russians at War” since TIFF has said it will still screen the doc at some point. A peaceful march and demonstration that wound its way to the TIFF Lightbox on Friday afternoon included people who laid sunflowers and photos of Ukrainians killed in the war on the sidewalk.
“Russians at War” is scheduled to screen at the Windsor International Film Festival, running from Oct. 24 to Nov. 3. The festival announced Friday that the documentary is among 10 nominees for its WIFF Prize in Canadian Film, worth $25,000.
“We hope that all our nominees — and all films at WIFF — generate meaningful, critical and intelligent discussion in an environment that is safe, respectful and civil,” festival organizers said in an emailed statement.
— With files from Queen’s Park correspondent Allison Jones in Toronto.
torontosun.com
TIFF organizers suspended all screenings this week due to 'significant threats' to festival operations
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Sonja Puzic
Published Sep 13, 2024 • Last updated 2 days ago • 4 minute read
TORONTO — Ongoing controversy over the documentary “Russians at War” has brought scrutiny to Ontario’s public broadcaster, which has said it will not air the film it helped fund.
One media expert says TVO is getting “the worst of all worlds” by investing in a project that can no longer be shown or monetized.
“TVO created a thing which their audience doesn’t get to see, other audiences will get to see and they’ve footed the bill and gotten no reward for it,” Chris Arsenault, chair of Western University’s master of media in journalism and communication program, said in an interview.
“I can’t think of a worse outcome for a network than what’s happened.”
“Russians at War,” a film rebuked by the Ukrainian community and some Canadian politicians, was part of the Toronto International Film Festival’s lineup until organizers suspended all screenings this week due to “significant threats” to festival operations. The film, which recently screened at the Venice Film Festival and is headed to the Windsor International Film Festival next month, shows the disillusionment of some Russian soldiers on the front lines of the war in Ukraine.
TVO had planned to air the documentary in the coming months, but the network’s board of directors withdrew support for the film on Tuesday, citing feedback it received. The Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Ukraine’s consul-general in Toronto and others have called the film Russian propaganda and a “whitewashing” of Russian military war crimes in Ukraine — claims the film’s producers and TIFF have rejected.
The TVO board’s announcement came just days after the network defended the film as “antiwar” at its core. It was an about-face the Documentary Organization of Canada said “poses a serious threat” to media independence and raises questions about political interference.
TVO has not responded to requests for comment and board chair Chris Day declined to elaborate on the decision to pull the film.
“Suffice it to say, we heard significant concerns and we responded,” Day wrote to The Canadian Press in an emailed response to an interview request.
Arsenault, who has not seen the documentary and could not comment on its content, said he’s nevertheless worried about the spectre of board intervention in independent editorial decisions, which he said “opens the doors” to further meddling in the production of documentaries and journalism.
“Russians at War,” a Canada-France co-production, was funded in part by the Canada Media Fund, which provided $340,000 for the project through its broadcaster envelope program. A spokesperson for the fund said TVO independently chose to use that money to support the production of the documentary.
One of the film’s producers, Cornelia Principe, said that TVO also had to pay a licensing fee to air the documentary. Such fees can range from $50,000 to $100,000, she said.
Principe, who has defended the documentary and its Canadian-Russian director Anastasia Trofimova, said she was shocked by the TVO board’s decision.
“Anastasia and I have been working with TVO on this for two and a half years…. I was a little bit out of it for hours. I just couldn’t believe it.”
What happens next, she said, is “uncharted territory” for TVO.
“This has, as far as I know, never happened before,” said Principe, who has worked with the broadcaster on various documentaries over the years.
TVO’s board has said the network will be “reviewing the process by which this project was funded and our brand leveraged.”
Charlie Keil, a professor at the University of Toronto’s Cinema Studies Institute, said the TVO board needs to explain why it took “kind of a sledgehammer” to a film that seems to have been adequately vetted on the editorial side.
“It seems to me if they were being honest, what (the) TVO board would be saying is: “There’s a lot of pressure now. We don’t really like this … We’re just going to bail,” Keil said in an interview.
Ontario’s Minister of Education Jill Dunlop said in a statement that the decision made by TVO’s board of directors “was the right thing to do,” but did not elaborate.
As a non-profit government agency, TVO has a mandate to distribute educational materials and programs but the ministry is not involved with its broadcasting arm due to CRTC licensing rules.
Another public broadcaster, British Columbia’s Knowledge Network, has confirmed that it made a licence fee contribution of $15,000 for “Russians at War” so that it can be a “second window” broadcaster for the film.
Asked whether the documentary will still air at some point in British Columbia, a spokesperson for the network said it’s “working on a public response.”
Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland has denounced the use of public funds for “Russians at War,” saying she shares the “grave concerns” Ukrainian officials and community members in Canada have raised about the film.
The Ukrainian Canadian Congress has said it will keep protesting “Russians at War” since TIFF has said it will still screen the doc at some point. A peaceful march and demonstration that wound its way to the TIFF Lightbox on Friday afternoon included people who laid sunflowers and photos of Ukrainians killed in the war on the sidewalk.
“Russians at War” is scheduled to screen at the Windsor International Film Festival, running from Oct. 24 to Nov. 3. The festival announced Friday that the documentary is among 10 nominees for its WIFF Prize in Canadian Film, worth $25,000.
“We hope that all our nominees — and all films at WIFF — generate meaningful, critical and intelligent discussion in an environment that is safe, respectful and civil,” festival organizers said in an emailed statement.
— With files from Queen’s Park correspondent Allison Jones in Toronto.
TVO under scrutiny for funding, then pulling Russian war documentary
Ongoing controversy over the documentary "Russians at War" has brought scrutiny to Ontario's public broadcaster.
From "3 days to Kyiv" to nuking a little part of Russia to show how mighty Ruzzian army is.
Bedpan isn't gonna nuke anyone, except maybe his own country.
Canadian taxpayers funded Russia propaganda
Federal and provincial money went directly into a project whitewashing Russia's war on Ukraine.
Author of the article:Brian Lilley
Published Sep 14, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read
It’s fascinating to watch the Trudeau government talk about Russian propaganda in Canada without acknowledging they have funded it.
While the Liberals and their CBC allies in the media sweep in on one Russia story, there isn’t much discussion of federal funds going to Russian propaganda.
Let’s unpack these complex, distinct and yet related stories.
The U.S. Department of Justice recently announced they had charged two employees of RT, a TV network and propaganda channel for Putin’s Russia. The allegation is that these two employees of the state-owned broadcaster funneled money to a Tennessee-based online media company, Tenet, that in turn paid American influencers in an attempt to push Russian talking points.
That Tennessee-based company is owned by a woman born in Canada and raised in Hong Kong named Lauren Chen. After studying in California and Utah, she settled in the Nashville area and built a popular online following.
There really is no solid Canadian connection here, but that hasn’t stopped Liberals in Canada from trying to draw one.
CBC journalist Jonathan Montpetit has published two articles on Russian media propaganda in Canada in the last week. The reason that’s shocking is that this “senior investigative journalist,” as his bio describes him, has only published four articles in all of 2024 – half of them on Russian propaganda with alleged ties to the right wing, but not in Canada.
Meanwhile, federal funding of an actual Russian propaganda film hasn’t been commented on by Montpetit or much of Ottawa’s establishment.
Russians at War, a documentary that was scheduled to air at the Toronto International Film Festival, received $340,000 from the Canadian Media Fund, $70,500 from Ontario’s government broadcaster TVO and an undisclosed sum from the government of British Columbia. While TVO has since denounced the funding of the film, there is no similar statement from the CMF.
Let’s be clear, the Canadian Media Fund wouldn’t exist without the federal government.
At $190 million in funding in 2023, the Department of Canadian Heritage is the organization’s biggest funder. The second biggest source of funding, Canada’s cable and satellite companies, only fund the CMF because they are forced to by the federal government.
Forget about any Russian propaganda in the United States being pushed by American influencers though a connection to a woman who used to live in Canada, this is direct funding of Russian propaganda by Canadian taxpayers.
The Canadian Media Fund wouldn’t exist without the federal government’s funding or it forcing other organizations to provide money. The current board chair Dr. Michael Schmalz was even one of the federal appointees through Canadian Heritage.
“It’s not right for Canadian public money to be supporting the screening and production of a film like this,” Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters on Wednesday.
Freeland was holding court with journalists covering the Liberal caucus retreat in Nanaimo, but none asked her about the federal funding, the biggest portion of government money supporting this project.
The film credits the Government of Canada, the Canadian Media Fund, TVO, Ontario Creates, British Columbia’s Knowledge Network and a number of other private funders. They should all be ashamed of their participation in the film, which tries to whitewash Russia’s part in invading Ukraine.
That said, if we are really worried about Russian propaganda and influence campaigns – and we should be – then let’s talk about the ones happening in this country rather than the ones happening stateside.
Yet, just as with China’s interference in this country, the main concern of the Liberals isn’t protecting the country – it’s using the Russia issue to try and win votes.
blilley@postmedia.com
torontosun.com
Federal and provincial money went directly into a project whitewashing Russia's war on Ukraine.
Author of the article:Brian Lilley
Published Sep 14, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read
It’s fascinating to watch the Trudeau government talk about Russian propaganda in Canada without acknowledging they have funded it.
While the Liberals and their CBC allies in the media sweep in on one Russia story, there isn’t much discussion of federal funds going to Russian propaganda.
Let’s unpack these complex, distinct and yet related stories.
The U.S. Department of Justice recently announced they had charged two employees of RT, a TV network and propaganda channel for Putin’s Russia. The allegation is that these two employees of the state-owned broadcaster funneled money to a Tennessee-based online media company, Tenet, that in turn paid American influencers in an attempt to push Russian talking points.
That Tennessee-based company is owned by a woman born in Canada and raised in Hong Kong named Lauren Chen. After studying in California and Utah, she settled in the Nashville area and built a popular online following.
There really is no solid Canadian connection here, but that hasn’t stopped Liberals in Canada from trying to draw one.
CBC journalist Jonathan Montpetit has published two articles on Russian media propaganda in Canada in the last week. The reason that’s shocking is that this “senior investigative journalist,” as his bio describes him, has only published four articles in all of 2024 – half of them on Russian propaganda with alleged ties to the right wing, but not in Canada.
Meanwhile, federal funding of an actual Russian propaganda film hasn’t been commented on by Montpetit or much of Ottawa’s establishment.
Russians at War, a documentary that was scheduled to air at the Toronto International Film Festival, received $340,000 from the Canadian Media Fund, $70,500 from Ontario’s government broadcaster TVO and an undisclosed sum from the government of British Columbia. While TVO has since denounced the funding of the film, there is no similar statement from the CMF.
Let’s be clear, the Canadian Media Fund wouldn’t exist without the federal government.
At $190 million in funding in 2023, the Department of Canadian Heritage is the organization’s biggest funder. The second biggest source of funding, Canada’s cable and satellite companies, only fund the CMF because they are forced to by the federal government.
Forget about any Russian propaganda in the United States being pushed by American influencers though a connection to a woman who used to live in Canada, this is direct funding of Russian propaganda by Canadian taxpayers.
The Canadian Media Fund wouldn’t exist without the federal government’s funding or it forcing other organizations to provide money. The current board chair Dr. Michael Schmalz was even one of the federal appointees through Canadian Heritage.
“It’s not right for Canadian public money to be supporting the screening and production of a film like this,” Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters on Wednesday.
Freeland was holding court with journalists covering the Liberal caucus retreat in Nanaimo, but none asked her about the federal funding, the biggest portion of government money supporting this project.
The film credits the Government of Canada, the Canadian Media Fund, TVO, Ontario Creates, British Columbia’s Knowledge Network and a number of other private funders. They should all be ashamed of their participation in the film, which tries to whitewash Russia’s part in invading Ukraine.
That said, if we are really worried about Russian propaganda and influence campaigns – and we should be – then let’s talk about the ones happening in this country rather than the ones happening stateside.
Yet, just as with China’s interference in this country, the main concern of the Liberals isn’t protecting the country – it’s using the Russia issue to try and win votes.
blilley@postmedia.com
LILLEY: Canadian taxpayers funded Russia propaganda
Federal and provincial money helped fund film that whitewashes Putin's war on Ukraine.
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