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Here is the more comprehensive version of the page Russians at War documentary, in comparison to what is there and locked - please compare. You will see how much more organized my version is. I proposed my edit on that Talk page many times earlier, and I saw that several editors liked part of my proposed version and used some parts of it. However, the edits using my texts are constantly reverted by one particular editor, ManyAreaExpert, who took over the edit of this page without anybody's asking for such a lead. I agree with other editors that the Introduction should NOT include the information about the festivals, and that such information should be in a stand-alone section (in my version, similarly to other wiki pages on films, there is a section "Release"). Note: my version has 88 sources whereas the current version has 47 sources. There is no reason to ignore the events surrounding this film, cutting out the sources that I cited.

Senior editors: please use my version to replace the current updated "soup" on the Russians at War page and then lock the page from the vandalism.

Russians at War, proposed version November 4, 2024

Russians at War
Directed by	Anastasia Trofimova
Written by	Roland Schlimme
Produced by	Cornelia Principe Sally Blake Philippe Levasseur
Cinematography	Anastasia Trofimova
Edited by	Roland Schlimme
Music by	Amin Bouhafa
Release date	September 5, 2024 (2024-09-05) (Venice)
Running time	2 hours 9 minutes
Countries	Canada France
Language	Russian

This page is about the 2024 film. For Russian-participating wars, see List of wars involving Russia.

Russians at War is a 2024 Canadian and French documentary film, directed by documentary maker Anastasia Trofimova . The film focuses on the perspective of Russian soldiers and medics during the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war . Trofimova illegally made her way to the frontline without the permission of the Russian Ministry of Defense using just the good will of soldiers helping her to travel with them. She then spent seven months near the frontline on the Russian side filming her interviews with soldiers and their everyday routines.

The film generated significant controversy at international film festivals, the media and among Canadian politicians, with many critics praising it for its anti-war spin but some seeing it as sophisticated Russian propaganda .

Production

Trofimova and Canadian Oscar-nominated (To Kill a Tiger) producer Cornelia Principe and co-producer Sally Blake described during their press-conference in Venice September 5, 2024, that the production of this film started as an anti-war project to reflect the perspective of Russians citizens and soldiers . Then, as an unexpected turn of events, Trofimova used a unique opportunity to follow a Russian soldier, whom she met in Moscow subway, on his way to the frontline. Without permission from the Ministry of Defense, and taking advantage of lax approach of local commanders, she eventually embeds herself with the Russian battalion, as it makes its way across the Donetsk or Luhansk regions. With very limited internet access and telephone contacts, Trofimova, Principle and Blake had to improvise to secure the obtained footage. .

Editing and post-production was conducted in Canada and France, with experienced video-editor Roland Schlimme involved in shaping the film from the start of its production. French musician Amin Bouhafa, who previously wrote the music for the films Along Came Love, Class Act, Halal Love, You Will Die at Twenty, Tug of War, Amin, Nika, Astel, produced the music for this film.

According to the The Kyiv Independent, the film received in total CA$340,000 in funding from the Canada Media Fund

Synopsis

Shot in a fly-on-the-wall cinéma vérité style, Russians at War follows documentarian Anastasia Trofimova as she spends seven months following Russian soldiers and medics from one location. She films their routines and dialogues, as well as asks her own provocative questions, getting a rare glimpse of an often ramshackle army in a regular state of disarray .

Many of her subjects reveal feelings of confusion and disillusionment with their government.. The film takes the audience from 180 km behind the front lines where ranks are "replenished" to the trenches of the front line where men die. The soldiers depicted are often volunteers who say they went to the front for various personal reasons: vague patriotism, avenging fallen friends, protecting loved ones, preventing their children from going to war in the future, or, more commonly, for money .

"Deadline Hollywood 's" Melanie Goodfellow describes the film as depicting "botched military sorties; hiding, petrified in dug outs; shrapnel-shredded dead comrades being slung into trucks in body bags, and commanders in shell shock as they relive the day's horrors. Any initial patriotic fervour dissipates, with the handful of subjects who survive to the end of the film questioning why they are there and expressing their lack of desire to fight, but suggesting they have no choice but to follow orders."

Release

The film’s trailer was first released September 4, 2024 .

Venice International Film Festival

The Word premier of “Russians at War” occurred at the 81st Venice International Film Festival on September 5, 2024. The film received a five-minute standing ovation from the audience .

The Artistic Director of the Venice Film Festival Alberto Barbera defended the film from Ukrainian critics, noting that the film is "very far from being an act of propaganda" and that "it is an anti-war film, with a very sensible and touching human approach, as well as great artistic craftsmanship."

Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)

The film had its North American premier on September 17, 2024 at the 49th Toronto International Film Festival, immediately following the Venice Film Festival . In contrast to the smooth presentation of Russians at War at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, screening of the film at TIFF was surrounded by a noticeable social and political controversy. On September 10, 2024, the Ukranian community held a protest outside Scotiabank Theatre Toronto, where TIFF was holding the film's press screening. As the press noted, none of the participants of this protest saw the film as it was only screened in closed venues in Venice, Italy a few days prior .

TIFF denied the request of the Ukrainian-Canadian community to exclude the film from the program. TIFF defended its decision in a statement released on September 11, noting that "in no way should this film be considered Russian propaganda" and that "as a cultural institution, we stand for the right of artists and cultural workers to express fair political comment freely and oppose censorship. Because filmmakers, like all artists, work in dynamic engagement with their societies, we believe that our role as curators and presenters of the film must stand for an unequivocal defence of artistic expression and a commitment to provide safe, open spaces to engage, critique and reflect on artists' work."

According to the TIFF organizers talking to Hollywood Reporter, “a number of former TIFF staffers had received numerous worrying inquiries requesting schematic floor plan diagrams of the Scotiabank Theatre, and precise details of its security arrangements for the entrance and exit of high-profile talent to and from the venue.. TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey described that “in emails and phone calls, TIFF staff received hundreds of instances of verbal abuse. Our staff also received threats of violence, including threats of sexual violence. We were horrified, and our staff members were understandably frightened. “We also learned of plans to disrupt or stop the screenings. Because last week’s screenings were scheduled at a 14-screen multiplex on some of the festival’s busiest days, we determined that it would be safer not to go ahead with those plans.” . In a move, unprecedented in TIFF history, on September 12, TIFF announced that it was pausing the North American public premiere for the film citing "significant threats to festival operations and public safety". The pause resulted in the cancellation of three public screenings planned from September 13-15.

On September 15, TIFF announced that it arrange the film’s North-American premiere with two screenings on September 17, 2024 at the TIFF-owned Bell Lightbox cultural center located in Downtown Toronto . During the screenings and unusual for TIFF, there was a visibly enhanced presence of police and security personnel controlling the interference from Ukrainian-Canadian protestors

In his open speech before the screening on February 17, 2024, the festival CEO Cameron Bailey reiterated that Trofimova’s film (which is a France-Canada co-production seeking international distribution) went through a “rigorous selection process and was invited based on its “artistic merits” and on its “relevance to the horrific, ongoing war prompted by Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.” He added that “TIFF screened a number of docs from Ukrainian filmmakers at the 2022, 2023 and 2024 festivals, offering firsthand insights into said horrors. We are deeply sympathetic to the pain felt by Ukrainian Canadians at the violence and destruction caused by Russia’s invasion, but verbal abuse and threats of violence, in response to the screening of a film, cross a dangerous line. We’re presenting ‘Russians at Wars’ to stand against that abuse, against those threats, and for the importance of media and curatorial independence.”

Anita Lee, the Toronto International Film Festival 's Chief Programming Officer wrote that "Trofimova assembles a spellbinding tale of sacrifice and disillusionment in which soldiers resemble pawns in a nefarious game. "Russians at War" reminds us of the human cost on both sides. As Trofimova so eloquently puts it, "the fog of war is so thick that you can't see the human stories it's made of.""

Lunenburg Documentary Festival

Lunenburg Documentary Festival in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia also received protests from the Ukrainian-Canadian community against screening this film. In response to this protest, the festival issued a statement: “The film “Russians at War” was selected to provide further insight into a tragic conflict which is still ongoing. While not a comprehensive study of the invasion, it does provide a window to observe the devastating impact of distant political decisions on the lives of less powerful individuals. In another selection, “Porcelain War” we will see how determined individual Ukrainian men and women continue to create art, while being subjected to the chaos of the war. The decision to exhibit these films was based on their merits and fit with our programming objectives. .

‘Russians at War’ was screened at this festival on September 20, 2024.

Athens International Film Festival, Premiere Nights

The Pan-Hellenic premiere of this film is scheduled at the 30th International Documentary Film Competition of Athens Premiere Nights, Greece, taking place October 2-24, 2024

However, on October 4, 2024 the festival’s organizers issued the statement that the public screenings have been cancelled “for the safety of both the audience and the festival staff”. The film remained in the Documentary Competition Section of the Festival and did compete for the Golden Athena award, “emphasizing the choice of the AIFF to include it in this year's program from the start” as the statement said.

Zurich Film Festival

The film is scheduled for four screening also at the Zurich Film Festival October 3-13 October 2024 . The organizers of this festival already acknowledged receiving "protest letters" from the Ukrainian government . France24 channel reports that the organizers released the following statement: “We can understand that the film evokes strong emotions in Ukrainians, but we will maintain its projection, because we consider that 'Russians at War' is an anti-war film” . Keyston-ATS news agency also cites the director of the Zurich Film Festival Christian Jungen saying: “It was understandable that "Ukrainians are unhappy" but insisting that "films should incite discussion". Jungen added that he considered the documentary an "anti-war film" .

The Ukraine Ambassador to Switzerland Iryna Venediktova, who didn’t see the film, arranged a meeting with the ZFF Artistic Director Christian Jungen on September 24, 2024 and, as stated in her X post, “urged @zurichfilmfest to ban the screening of 'Russians at War' to avoid being weaponised by Russian propaganda” .

On September 26, 2024 the festival ZFF has issued the statement that even though the film “will remain in the Documentary Film Competition of the ZFF”, the festival cancels the public screening of the film “due to safety reasons. For the ZFF, the safety of its audience, guests, partners as well as the staff is the top priority.” .

In her interview to the Swiss DIE WELTWOCHE, the film’s director described unprecedented threats to the festival organizers . The Swiss outlet Neue Zürcher Zeitung comments that “This leaves a bad taste in the mouth. The question arises as to how drastically official bodies have interfered… It is an unprecedented incident: one cannot remember a Swiss cultural institution ever being forced to take a similar step by foreign actors – especially by actors from a friendly state.” . Another editor from Neue Zürcher Zeitung Simon Schaffer also agreed that it is an anti-war film in general and should not be cancelled at festivals

Windsor International Film Festival

The film will be shown at the Windsor International Film Festival (WIFF) which will run from October 24 to November 3, 2024. Executive director Vincent Georgie stated that "the film is there to create discussion and debates" and added that there will be additional security measures during the showings of the film, in response to the TIFF threats .

The Windsor Star reported that local Ukrainian-Canadian groups have called on WIFF to cancel its screenings of Russians at War. When it didn’t happen, an Ukrainian filmmaker who also presented a film at the Windsor International Film Festival pulled out their film from the program in protest .

MAMI Mumbai Film Festival

The film was scheduled to have its Asia premiere at the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2024 on October 19, but its screenings were cancelled due to the festival not receiving the 'required permissions'.

Reception

Anti-war content

Many critics who saw the film praised it for the anti-war spin . The Hollywood Reporter noted, "running the gamut from left-wing to -right, the country’s three national newspapers — the Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail and the National Post — all published pieces praising the film (which this writer has seen) as a powerful anti-war polemic that portrays Russia’s infantry as inept and unmotivated, feeling betrayed and confused about why they are actually fighting".

• Canada's Toronto Star gave the film 4 out of 4 stars: "Russians at War is, despite the controversy surrounding it, an excellent and bracing documentary. Its observational honesty is its great feat, sharing the harrowing experiences of soldiers easily demonized in the West and glossed over by state media at home."

• American film critic Jason Gorber of RogerEbert.com: "Not dissimilar to Erich Maria Remarque’s novel about German soldiers in the Great War, Trofimova’s film gives a welcome perspective at the level of the individual soldier".

• France's TV5Monde: "The film is deeply pacifist".

• Marsha Lederman from The Globe and Mail: "It shows, unvarnished, the horrors of the war, including some of the most horrific footage you will ever see on a big screen. This documentary in no way glorifies Russia or its army or its war effort. This film in no way demonizes Ukraine or its people".

• “Set the Bar” of the WordPress gave the score 95/100: “Comparisons to “Platoon” and “All Quiet on the Western Front” can be drawn here. Mismanaged grunts quickly realizing the brutality of war minimized and glorified of course by Russian politicians and the media.”

• Pat Mullen from the Point Of View, as well as The Globe and Mail draw parallels between this film and a winner of four Academy Awards the film All Quiet on the Western Front, "perhaps the greatest of anti-war works" as it "observes an awakening as some soldiers, and the families who grieve them, ask questions that are absent from the barracks in the early scenes.".

Footage rarity

Most reviews acknowledged the professionalism and surprisingly rare access to the daily routines of soldiers fighting on the Russian side during the Ukrainian-Russian war:

• Jason Gorber of RogerEbert.com: "Anastasia Trofimova, provides a unique glimpse into the lives of the soldiers on what for them is the Western Front."

• Germany's DW News: "Trofimova's film is considered one of the few documentary video evidence from the Russian side of the front." .

• Canada's The Globe and Mail: "Anastasia Trofimova’s film is no-holds-barred reproach of war in general… It is extraordinary",.

• Canada's ‘Toronto Star’': "without casting aspersions on Trofimova’s personal beliefs about the war’s causes, the film is wholly uninterested in having that political-historical debate. Rather, what it offers is unfiltered insight into present conditions and contradictions. Importantly, Trofimova does challenge her subjects, prodding them with questions about their views, purpose and actions in the war"..

• Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: "Russians at War can clearly be read as an anti-war film. Trofimova shows that the Russians who are being used up in Ukraine are there primarily for financial reasons, that they have to continue fighting without pay after they have served their contracts. She shows how the propaganda has an impact, but also how cynicism and alcohol shape everything. And she shows that the Soviet Union still has an enormous influence. A young medic says that her worldview is shaped by the old films from that time, which she sees as "uncynical". She does not say the implication that she is serving in a cynical war, but it can be read in Russians at War. Trofimova is present in her film above all with her questions from off-screen. These are the simple questions that arise from a humanistic perspective ".

• Canada's In The Seats: "the art of this film “is vital to … our understanding of the human condition on many different levels"..

• Italy's Sentieriselvaggi: "Russians at War is one of the most interesting and fascinating films of the entire 2024 Film Festival", "one of the most interesting and courageous films of this edition".

• Germany's ARD: "The film is an important contemporary document… Trofimova gave us a perspective that we rarely see"..

• Film critics "Pravila Jisni" Egor Moskvitin, responding to the questions of the ‘Business FM’ channel considered the film "talented", praising "the trust of her characters to the film-maker" and "polarity of opinions of the characters in this film; they don’t offer one specific point of view on the events, not simplifying the documentary perspective of this film. The film had a positive reception (in Venice) because the producer managed to maintain the most important balance between publicism, giving her own view of the events and responsibility for her characters."

• Film critic Konstantin Shavlovsky from the Wilson Center pointed out that currently there are multiple films produced on the Ukrainian side about the war but Russians at War is the first and rare footage filmed on the Russian side, and so should be shown to the public to have a better sense of the ground psychology of the war .

Acknowledgement of the courage of the film’s director showing “trench truth”

According to the film’s producers, the footage of the film was obtained by its director at her own risk and initiative, when she and her Canadian team were looking for an opportunity to talk to Russian soldiers after the Ukrainian-Russian war has started When such opportunity suddenly occurred by pure chance, Trofimova grabbed her camera and “jumped to the wagon”, joining one of the Russian soldiers with great personal risks and no approval from the Russian Ministry of Defense .

Many critics praised Trofimova’s bravery , calling the film "courageous".

• The Globe and Mail evaluated the film as “a brave and exceptional documentary: “A talented filmmaker, without an official posting or even a press pass, followed Russian fighters, almost all the way to the front so that we could know about it. And be outraged. Not at the film; at the war.

• TVO in their statement from September 6, 2024 praised the film pointing out that "it is unauthorized by Russian officials and was made at great personal risk to the filmmaker, who was under constant threat of arrest and incarceration for trying to tell an unofficial story.". The TVO called “Russians at War” “a documentary made in the tradition of independent war correspondence” .

• Trofimova agreed that the project was very risky for the soldiers and for herself personally, and she did not believe at every stage of this project that it was possible. She felt that an anti-war film like this was worth the risks and could be her contribution to ending the Russian-Ukrainian war..

• Zinaida Pronchenko from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: "Regardless of the motives and conditions of filming, this is a unique material, the very 'trench truth' that is usually not visible behind the 'fog of war'." Pronchenko described the feelings from the film as fear and despair..

• Film and literary critic Konstantin Shavlovsky praised the film for showing the trench truth from a neutral point of view, describing several cases when Russian journalists were punished for even passing mentioning the matter that Trofimova’s film illustrated.

• Film Editor Simon Schaffer from Swiss Neue Zürcher Zeitung pointed out that this film does not romanticised the war and was made from an observation point.

Controversy and political pressure

Protests by those who haven’t seen the film

The film became a matter of controversy within the first few days of its world premiere in Venice. A famous American source for films analysis “Roger Ebert” summarized the controversy as “The film became … the subject of mass protests outside the venue by supporters of Ukraine believing it to be mere propaganda (none of whom had seen the film), and even members of Trudeau’s government excoriating the festival for playing the film at all .

Indeed, many film critics noticed that the time line of the film premiere and subsequent screening suggested that the majority of those who protested against the film, hadn’t seen it, including politicians The film was screened on September 5-6, 2024 in the secluded area of Lido Island of Venice during the 81st Venice International Film Festival, to which the access was limited to registered in advanced pass holders and then at a closed (industry) screening at TIFF on September 10, 2024.

The first uninformed criticism of the film came from the Ukrainian director Olha Zhurba who also presented a documentary regarding the Ukrainian-Russian war at the 81st Venice International Film Festival. Zhurba admitted not seeing the film at the time of her statements expressed on September 4, 2024 but raised concerns about the film’s empathy to Russian soldiers. The Ukrainian producer of Zhurba’s film Darya Bassel criticized the decision of the Venice Film Festival to screen Russians at War because the film "presents a very distorted picture of reality" and that Trofimova's documentary is "spreading false narratives" Bassel pointed out that the film pictures as Russian invasion started in 2022, while Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014; people shown in film repeat Russian propaganda narratives about "Ukrainians are nazis" and "civil war in Ukraine"..

Zhurba’s and Bassel’s opinions quickly echoed in Ukrainian and the Ukrainian-Canadian communities, as well as Canadian politicians who characterized it as “Russian propaganda".

On September 9, 2024, the Ukrainian MP Yevheniia Kravchuk, without any chance to see the film, stated that the film is a "striking example of how Russia, thanks to its soft power, is trying to promote its narratives about a ‘more comprehensive understanding of the war’. And unfortunately, they are doing this quite successfully.". Ukrainian officials called for the film to be removed from the TIFF and to prevent the film from being screened .

Ukraine's consul-general in Toronto, Oleh Nikolenko, also hadn’t seen the film when submitting his letter dated September 5, 2024 to TIFF as he wasn’t a delegate in Venice Festival. On behalf of the Consulate General of Ukraine in Toronto, the Ukrainian embassy in Ottawa and the non-profit Ukrainian Canadian Congress, in this letter he urged TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey to remove the film from the festival schedule and criticized the Canadian government for helping to fund the documentary .

On September 7-10, 2024 Ukrainian-Canadian community called for its members to protest against its screening at TIFF, requesting removal the film from the program. Many journalists who talked to protesters noted that the majority of them “haven’t seen the film but screamed propaganda” even when it was eventually screened in Toronto.. Washington Post cites Ukrainian protesters saying that they bought tickets to each of the two screenings “not because they intended to go, but to prevent others from seeing it.” Protesters admitted not seeing it, saying “the trailer was enough”, “I don’t want to listen to any stories, any explanations, any justifications from Russians”, “They are war criminals”. Other Ukrainian protesters started watching the film but didn’t finish . As German Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung pointed out,“Most of the demonstrators had only seen the trailer, but suspected Russian propaganda. They would probably not take back the accusation even if they had seen the whole film.” . “As is always the case, - wrote National Post, the people who managed to get this film cancelled almost certainly haven’t seen it” . Canadian “Point of View” magazine writes: “Protesters, who by all accounts hadn’t seen the film given the inaccuracies of their characterizations of it, decried the doc as Russian propaganda and picketed the first press and industry screening, which preceded the public events by several days. Which is a shame, since it’s a strong (if flawed) film and one example that showed how 2024 marked an exceptionally notable year for TIFF Docs”

Meanwhile, the political controversy increased when the Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, Chrystia Freeland made a denouncing statement about ‘Russians at War’ while speaking to reporters in Nanaimo, British Columbia on September 10, 2024 , not having had a chance to see the film at that time as she was over 3500 km away from Toronto that day. By the request of the CBC, on September 16, 2024 she issued the statement “I have seen the film” but didn’t specify, when. Yet, in her statement, she denounced the film, saying, "it's not right for Canadian public money to be supporting the screening and production of a film like this." Freeland famously helped accommodate a million Ukrainian refugees in Canada after February 2022 and, according to her Wikipedia pagehas Ukrainian heritage and “has played a critical role in the Canadian response to the Russo-Ukrainian War, including the implementation of sanctions on Russia, sending aid to Ukraine before and after the invasion in 2022” .

Canadian MP James Bezan who in his facebook post wrote “My family is proud of our Ukrainian roots and always love a chance to celebrate” submitted a petition to Canadian Senate, without seeing the film but stating that the film “paints a nice picture of how Russians are fighting in Ukraine and requesting an investigation of how Canadian Funds “were used to pay for this Russian misinformation complain and… represent Russian interests here in Canada” and asking “to cease all the footage that was captured”

Two Canadian senators of Ukrainian heritage, Stan Kutcher and Donna Dasko , according to Kutcher facebook page, “sent a letter to Lunenburg Film Festival regarding their showing of the film “Russians at war”. We asked them to reconsider giving a platform to this sort Russian propaganda”. Dasko and Kutcher sent a similar letter to TIFF and had many posts on the facebook insisting that “Russia at war” is “Russian propaganda and disinformation” and, during the Senate’s hearing, requiring to ensure that Canadian money would never go to “films like this” .

The Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications included the director of this film Anastasia Trofimova in the list of people posing a threat to the national security of Ukraine (the order No. 652 from September 17, 2024) . Trofimova’s name, her email and other contact information, address and background information was also added to the “hit list of Ukrainian enemies” Myrotvorets .

Under political pressure, the TVO made a decision to withdraw from the film

Immediately after Freeland’s comments to reporters in British Columbia and before any screenings of the film in Canada, the same day on September 10, 2024 the documentary’s distributor TV Ontario (TVO), backed away from the film in a very brief, 3-line statement: “We have listened to the Ukrainian-Canadian community and their thoughtful and heartfelt input… TVO will be reviewing the process by which this project was funded and our brand leveraged."

Several media outlets considered this decision as made under political pressure from Chrystia Freeland since “ironically, TVO’s decision to pull the film came mere hours after an industry panel at TIFF where filmmakers praised TVO for its support for filmmakers eager to take risks and engage audiences with challenging and topical films.” . Indeed, the TVO board’s decision to pull the film from the schedule backtracks on a statement made by the TVO Education Group just four days earlier on September 6, 2024: “Russians at War is at its core an anti-war film… This film shows the increasing disillusionment of Russian soldiers as their experience at the front doesn’t jive with the media lies their families are being told at home. The film was produced by an Academy Award nominee with the support of cultural agencies in France and Canada because it is a documentary made in the tradition of independent war correspondence. We encourage people to see the documentary for themselves when it is available.”.

Media universally saw the statement of Deputy PM and the TVO decision as censorship

Media outlets, such as The Globe and Mail , National Post , , Washington Post, Toronto Star and Point of View immediately reacted to the statement of the Deputy PM and the TVO decision, seeing it as censorship. Canadian Szechuan Palace magazine reported that “the film was seen by a significant number of Canadian journalists during the fest, with press reaction unanimous in rejecting the deputy prime minister’s characterization.” .

Citing Deputy Prime Minister Freeland’s concerns, that “it’s not right for Canadian public money to be supporting the screening and production of a film like this”, National Post responded: “No, what’s inappropriate is recipients of public money cancelling projects under pressure from politicians and special-interest groups.. The most important point is that government and government-funded entities — Ontario’s public broadcaster, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC), TIFF, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and other MPs — successfully conspired to keep people from seeing the film and judging for themselves ” .

‘Point of View’ magazine writes: “Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who also hadn’t seen the film, bought into the misinformation campaign of the uninformed protesters and denounced both the doc and the festival for allegedly white-washing Russia’s crimes (which it doesn’t). As she legitimatized the mob and gave the controversy traction, Freeland essentially threw public funding for political art under the bus—an affront to this lefty film critic who believes that everyone should watch a film before reviewing it, although I can appreciate the pain that Ukrainian-Canadians may feel over the film’s premise.”

Moreover, in response to the TVO withdrawal from the film, the Documentary Organization of Canada issued a statement, in which it is "profoundly alarmed by TVOntario's Board of Directors' recent unilateral decision to withdraw support for the documentary "Russians at War"… This project, a Canadian-French co-production, was developed through a multi-year collaborative effort involving the filmmakers and TVO’s Documentary team. TVO’s team has traditionally operated with editorial independence, fostering essential collaboration with independent filmmakers through established journalistic processes of review and discussion. The Board’s decision undermines these fundamental processes and raises serious concerns about political interference, and must be confronted in order to preserve the integrity of our media institutions”

Jane Jankovic, the former executive producer of documentaries at TVO following her retirement, also issued a statement on the TVO board decision. “I commissioned this film for TVO when I was executive producer of documentaries. I was surprised the board of directors at TVO decided it will not broadcast the film,” she said. “This action is worrisome for the documentary industry. What has happened to Russians at War is a form of censorship. It creates a chill among documentary funders that will prevent important and controversial stories from being told. That is not our tradition in Canada. Documentaries are meant to create conversations, not shut them down.

The editors of Canadian magazine “Point of View” stated: TVO’s decision to withdraw support comes at a moment of seismic change for the documentary community. Talking points at festivals and industry panels have noted distributors’ and broadcasters’ risk aversion and growing reluctance to support overtly political documentaries as music docs and celebrity biographies inundate streamers and broadcast windows. The result could have serious implications for filmmakers eager to depict challenging and provocative stories.

Indeed, Marsha Leberban from The Globe and Mail reminded that censoring art is never a good idea. But keeping this film under wraps is denying the public of more than the experience of seeing an excellent movie. It is restricting access to a vital message: an unforgiving indictment of war”, “it is a cowardly move to work to suppress his courageous film. And it is a mistake… Propaganda? Please. Triumph of the Will this is not. This is eye-opening and gutting. The only “propaganda” this documentary serves up is an anti-war message that should be delivered as far and wide as possible.”

Andrew Phillips from Toronto Star called the “TVO’s position in this mess is particularly egregious” translating the TVO’s board of directors September 10, 2024 statement as “”We got pressured and we caved.” Phillips’ opinion was that “for politicians and organizations like TVO to go along in this case with what amounts to a demand for censorship is shameful”

TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey explained his decision to keep the film in the program despite political pressure: “I believe that surrendering to pressure from some members of the public — or from the government — when it comes to presenting any cultural product, can become a corrosive force in our society. We were guided by TIFF’s mission and its values when we selected the film, and I believe those principles — and the principle of independent media in Canada — are worth defending.”.

When Chris Selley from the National Post argued that this film shouldn’t be cancelled under pressure from politicians and special-interest groups, he was accused of enabling fascism by a member of the King’s Privy Council, former Conservative immigration minister Chris Alexander , who admitted not seeing the film . Selly also points out that another politician, Canadian Liberal MP Yvan Baker crowed on social media “We did it!” after TIFF paused the film’s North American premier. Instead of restraining protestors from reported threats of violence, Baker wrote to them “Thank you to all who worked to make this happen.” Selly comments on this: “Censorship is bad. If you need a citation, I would suggest the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. But the principle predates that document by centuries” .

The cancellation of the public screening of the film at Zurich Film Festival under the pressure of Ukrainian Embassy raised objections in the local media. “Must be no attempts at censorship in Swiss politics – noted Shaffer from the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, - but that is exactly what is happening at the moment. Ukraine must also respect freedom of expression even if the perspective of the film is uncomfortable and goes against dehumanization” .

The production team submitted an official legal request to the TVO demanding this network to reinstate the support for the film. As The Globe and Mail reports, in a letter dated September 19, 2024 and addressed to TVO board and management, lawyer Danny Webber wrote that the network’s decision to pull support for the film “represents a clear violation of the filmmaker’s rights, not only under the broadcast agreement but also in terms of the broader principles of fairness, editorial independence, and respect for artistic integrity”

“Propaganda” debates

The statement of Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland characterizing the documentary as propaganda echoed in several Ukrainian outlets . Canadian senators of Ukrainian heritage Stan Kutcher and Donna Dasko specifically called “Russians at War” as a “propaganda film”. This narrative dominated protests at TIFF. Donovan Vincent from the Toronto Star described that “At one point I was booed by several in the crowd. One protester shouted loudly at me, singled me out and accused me of helping to “finance Russian propaganda”.

Russian film director Vitaly Mansky praised the film’s professionalism but said that "it is quite obvious that the author is on the side of their heroes" and called the film's screening in Venice "a mistake by the festival." Mansky himself attempted to send a cameraman to film on the Russian side during the invasion, but his cameraman was promptly arrested.. Kyiv-born producer Alexader Rodnyansky published articles criticizing TIFF’s support of the film and insisted that it was sophisticated Russian propaganda . Ukrainian-Canadian freelance reporter Lidiia Karpenko argued that “whitewashing Russian soldiers is an insult to the Ukrainian victims of their invasion” .

However, many film critics and journalists who saw the film disagreed that it is Russian propaganda:

Julian Carrington, formerly of Hot Docs and current executive manager of the Racial Equity Media Collective stated: “As a former Senior Industry Manager at Hot Docs, I was the administrator of the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Fund when Russians at War was selected to receive production support in 2022. I have also now seen the finished film, which evidently cannot be said for the overwhelming majority of those who decry it as Russian propaganda. Indeed, having actually seen the film, the notion that it is pro-Russian propaganda is bewilderingly upside down” . Jane Jankovic, the former executive producer of documentaries at the TVO agrees: “The film is not propaganda for the Russians. In fact, it shows the embarrassing fragility of the Russian war machine and the lack of conviction of its own soldiers.” .

The National Post categorically disagreed with Freeland’s characterization of the film as propaganda: “Only a purebred lunatic could suggest such a thing, having seen the film”. Charges of the film being Russian propaganda fall flat on their face” . The outlet cites members of the public who “decided to see the film after politicians began criticizing it…” They said “it was far from Russian propaganda. I think it was clear that the group of soldiers that she embedded with were teenagers. They knew nothing. They have no idea what’s going on, and they did say more than once, ‘Don’t watch Russian television.’”

Several reviews and opinion pieces in the most experienced journalists of Toronto Star supported this view . Rosie DiManno summarized it: “‘Russians at War’ isn’t propaganda, it’s a vital testament to the horrors of Putin’s brutality… There’s no jingoism or flag-waving for Mother Russia in this exposition, no intimation that Putin’s ‘special military operation’ can ever be won, and no camouflaging the horrors of war”.

“It’s the furthest thing from propaganda on behalf of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine you could imagine…It’s the view from ground-level, quite literally as soldiers dig into the dirt for protection and scrape the remains of their comrades out of muddy shelters. Trofimova meant it to be an anti-war statement, and it certainly is that ”, wrote Andrew Phillips . Justin Ling adds: "To fully understand “Russians at War,” you must appreciate that it is neither documentary nor propaganda: It is Kino-Pravda, ‘film truth,’ a style pioneered by Russian filmmaker Dziga Vertov. Kino-Pravda sought to replace art and romanticism in cinema with scenes of real people living out the noble mundaneness of life." He further stated that "after watching the film and speaking to Trofimova, I’m here to tell you that the truth lies in between: It is not propaganda, but it is informed by it… As a piece of primary historical evidence, “Russians at War” is incredibly useful. ...I don’t think Trofimova is a Kremlin stooge — she offers a “100 per cent” guarantee that her film has no involvement from any facet of the Russian government. And so there is no reason, in my mind, to censor, cancel, or denounce it”. . Corey Atad gave the film 4/4 stars noting “Despite baseless accusations of Trofimova being a Russian state-backed operative, her matter-of-fact and mostly non-editorialized approach to capturing the drudgery and horror of the war experience is, for anyone convinced of Russia’s wrongdoing, understandably frustrating to watch.”

German Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung also disagreed that the film was propaganda: “Anastasia Trifomowa shows the war in Ukraine from the point of view of ordinary Russian participants. She followed a soldier to the front and then shared the everyday life of the foot soldiers of the war for several months, first at Krasnyj Lyman, later in front of Bakhmut.”

Chris Selley from the National Post writes: “If Anastasia Trofimova’s film Russians at War is a piece of Kremlin-approved propaganda, as its legions of detractors allege, then whoever approved it should stay well clear of any high windows”.. He also published a follow-up article describing Canadian MPs siding with protesters at TIFF and practically calling this journalist a “fascist” simply for sharing the position of TIFF organizers .

Several editors of the Swiss Neue Zürcher Zeitung also concluded: “It is doubtful that the Kremlin likes this portrayal of the soldiers. It is difficult to see a sophisticated propaganda effort behind the film”. “This documentary stays on the human level and is not propaganda…”

A prominent Russian film and literary critic Konstantin Shavlovsky did not find any propaganda content in the film but prased it for its neutrality and unpleasant truth about the state of mind of Russian soldiers at the front line. .

The producer of the film, Cornelia Principe, responding to the criticism of the film omitting the coverage of war crimes stated that none of the film could cover all topics, and this film simply focused on a different topic than what Ukrainians would like the film to show . “The film doesn’t say the war crimes didn’t happen, it’s totally outside of the film. This film is about specifically this battalion, I don’t think there is any contradiction on that” - said Principe . "Trofimova explained: “Ukrainian side wants me to show and then condemn military actions of Russian soldiers but their own films don’t show military actions of their soldiers. Instead Ukrainian films show human faces and lives involved in this war. So that is what I show too: human lives. Whatever the Ukrainian side wants, it relates to different topics and scripts” . "If we don't see each other as people – says Trofimova - these black-and white stereotypes about each other this will only make the war continue. This will only make the hatred grow… unfortunately, that's sort of the route taken by politicians, but I don't think that this is the route that regular people should take."

The issue of obtaining permissions for filming in war zones

The historian Ian Garner noted that Trofimova did not have official Ukrainian permission to film the soldiers after entering Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories. According to Garner, this "hardly stands up to scrutiny in a country where independent journalism simply does not exist" and that Trofimova absolved the soldiers of moral responsibility for war crimes such as rape, looting, and murder”. Garner termed this an "alarming reiteration of the 'just following orders' narratives" that surrounded the Holocaust.

Trofimova, during the interviews, described that “getting to the places where others couldn’t” was a matter of her pride and professionalism, and that many war journalists work without official permissions from the sides involved in wars. She reminded that the standards and expectations are different for war journalism, in comparison with civil journalism. For example, when she was filming for her ISIS-related films, she had to work on the territories of four different states, which were unfriendly to each other. Her safety and a goal of obraining the footage were then a higher priority than permissions. .