Uncancelling “Russians at War”

September 24, 2024

It’s the policy of MediaPolicy.ca not to host links to petitions.

I’m making an exception over the actions of the public broadcaster TV Ontario in repudiating its contract with the producers of the anti-war documentary, Russians at War. The documentary was made by Russian-Canadian journalist Anastasia Trofimova who embedded with a platoon of Russian soldiers deployed in the illegal invasion of Ukraine. 

The film was denounced by the Ukrainian government, some Canadian-Ukrainian organizations, and Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland who said “it is not right that public money” supported the production of the film. The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) screened it anyway, as did the Venice festival. 

The public broadcaster TVO, however, announced it was “withdrawing its support” for Russians at War and will not be airing it.

It’s not clear what “withdrawing support” means. TVO is the main Canadian financing partner for the documentary and purchased the exclusive first window broadcasting rights. In the ordinary course of distributing a first window film after its theatrical release, the film would be broadcast over television and streaming platforms some time in the next few months. With TIFF concluded, you can’t view the film anywhere in Canada and it’s unclear if you ever will.

What’s even more remarkable is that the film was approved for financing by curation staff at TVO, (as well as the public-private Canada Media Fund (CMF) and the Rogers Hot Doc fund). Yet it was TVO’s Board that intervened to announce the withdrawal of support, which could mean anything from refusing to make scheduled payments to the film’s producers, to burying the film.

The chair of the board Chris Day said “TVO will be reviewing  the process by which this project was funded and our brand leveraged,” his “wasn’t me” gesture to the public and a rebuke to his organization, four days after TVO had publicly defended the documentary. 

The TVO Board is appointed by Ontario Premier Doug Ford who, as far as I can tell, has had nothing to say on the matter. Maybe no one asked him.

As an international co-production between producers in France and Canada, the documentary was eligible for financing from federal “CAVCO” Canadian video production credits and the CMF, proportional to the participation of Canadian talent and investments in its production. 

The film has been rated reasonably well by professional film critics and considered an anti-war movie, not “Russian propaganda.” 

For another perspective, you can read an opinion editorial by Alexander Rodnyansky published in the Globe and Mail. The Oscar-nominated producer concedes that Russians at War is “well-made, deserving of professional praise and the good reviews it has received.”

He also says that the film is “seemingly objective” but maintains it is “cunning and sophisticated” Russian propaganda, not because it humanizes Russian soldiers but because “it provides a platform for active duty soldiers to freely repeat the propaganda that poisoned them in the first place while war and death continue.” 

While commercial broadcasters and film festivals always retain the right (if not the wisdom) to reconsider screening commitments, public broadcasters should be held to a higher standard of free expression and public debate.

The Documentary Organization of Canada has posted an online petition demanding that TVO reverse its decision to “withdraw support” and not to air Russians at War.

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