Toronto’s glitziest film festival has been shamed into a humiliating U-turn after yanking a blistering documentary on Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre and now it’s in full-blown damage control.
Just days ago, TIFF bosses told Canadian director Barry Avrich his explosive The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue was out, warning of mass street protests, backstage mutiny, and red-carpet chaos. Behind the scenes, insiders admitted a jaw-dropping snag, Hamas hadn’t “approved” the use of its own grotesque livestream footage of the slaughter.
The backlash was immediate and ferocious. Social media erupted, donors raged, and TIFF’s polished image was ripped to shreds. By Wednesday night, the festival’s head honcho was groveling, promising to sic the lawyers on the problem and find a way to show the film, whether Hamas signs-off or not.
The film tells the pulse-pounding true story of an Israeli general’s desperate mission to save his family from a kibbutz under siege, a rescue that made headlines worldwide. The filmmakers, still furious, vowed to unleash it with or without TIFF, daring audiences to judge the truth for themselves.
Now, with its 50th anniversary looming on Sept. 4, TIFF faces an ugly reality: the festival that prides itself on championing bold voices just let a terrorist group dictate what plays
