Ukrainian MPs urge Canada to block screening of Russian propaganda film at Toronto festival
Russian-Canadian director Anastasia Trofimova's documentary Russians at War whitewashes the Russian army that attacked Ukraine and, as Ukrainian MPs state, promotes Russia's soft power narratives about a "deeper understanding of war."
A group of 21 Ukrainian Members of Parliament has called on their Canadian counterparts to prevent the screening of a “documentary“, “Russians at War,” at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film, directed by Russian-Canadian filmmaker Anastasia Trofimova, has been criticized for promoting pro-Russian narratives about the ongoing war in Ukraine, including the denial of war crimes. This year’s Venice Film Festival featured the screening of the film. The film festival’s decision to include this picture in the screening was met with indignation by Ukrainian participants.
In a letter shared by MP Yevhenia Kravchuk, the Ukrainian lawmakers expressed concern over what they see as Russia’s attempt to use soft power to push its agenda of a “deeper understanding of the war.” Kravchuk noted that the film has already received $340,000 from the Canadian Media Fund, which is financed by the Canadian government.
In their appeal, Ukrainian MPs highlight that there can’t be any justification for the Russian war of aggression and the participation of hundreds of thousands of Russians in the fight on the frontline. The filmmaker’s attempt to “build bridges” with them disregards all victims killed by Russian soldiers and diverts attention from the very fact of the ongoing effort to destroy and occupy Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Canadian Congress has also appealed to the festival organizers, arguing that the film attempts to justify Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. They claim the documentary shifts responsibility for Russian military crimes to “propaganda” or the “fog of war.”
This statement follows the film’s screening at the Venice International Film Festival on 5 September, which drew criticism from Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ministry sent a letter to the Ukrainian Embassy in Italy and the president of the Venice Biennale, calling the screening unacceptable while “Russia continues to wage a cynical and bloody war against Ukraine.”
Trofimova’s film has been criticized for not showing the destruction and casualties inflicted by Russian forces on Ukrainians. The director claims she did not witness any war crimes during the film’s production and argues that this allegedly should challenge Western “stereotypes” of Russian soldiers all being war criminals and reverse the destruction of “bridges … between Russia and the West.”
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