Ukrainian-Canadian filmmakers pulled their pro-Ukrainian film "Intercepted" from screening at the Windsor International Film Festival (WIFF) in protest after learning that it would be featured in a lineup alongside the controversial "Russians at War" documentary, the Canadian media outlet Windsor Star reported on Oct. 26.
Canadian-Russian director Anastasia Trofimova's documentary Russians at War has faced criticism for what many perceive as an attempt to whitewash Russian soldiers involved in Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. Earlier in her career, Trofimova worked for Russia Today, a Kremlin-backed propaganda outlet.
The documentary has been criticized for lacking a concrete counter-narrative to Russian propaganda, failing to address documented Russian war crimes, and does not offer a definitive critique of Putin's regime.
The movie was brought into the spotlight when it appeared on the official list of screenings at the prestigious Venice and Toronto film festivals.
According to the Windsor Star, Intercepted — a film that chronicles the work of Ukrainian intelligence agencies as it intercepts calls from Russian soldiers to family and friends — pulled out of the Canadian-based WIFF ahead of its opening night screening.
The decision to pull out comes amid widespread protest among Canada's large Ukrainian-Canadian diaspora.
Following protest, organizers at the Toronto International Film Festival decided to pull the film from the schedule, citing security concerns, but later decided to hold a special screening for the film after the end of the festival in September, drawing widespread criticism.
Controversy further spread as it was revealed the Russians at War film received 340,000 Canadian dollars from the Canada Media Fund. Canadian government officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, have strongly criticized the use of public funds to support a controversial documentary that portrays Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine.
On Sept. 10, the public broadcaster TVO — funded by the Ontario provincial government —announced that it will not be airing the controversial documentary.
The decision to not air the film by the Ontario-funded public broadcaster falls in stark contrast with the provincial government's decision on Oct. 25 to provide 375,000 Canadian dollars in funding to WIFF.
Despite protest from local members of the Ukrainian-Canadian diaspora, WIFF has not removed Russians at War from the festival's lineup — at odds with decisions made earlier this month at film festivals in Athens and Zurich to drop the film.
The director of Intercepted, Oksana Karpovych, could not be immediately reached by the Windsor Star for comment.
On Oct. 7, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) began investigating Trofimova on the charges of justifying and recognizing the legitimacy of Russia's aggression against Ukraine and illegally crossing Ukraine's internationally recognized borders when filming in the Russian-occupied territories.
Kate Tsurkan
