Anger after Toronto film festival pulls invite for October 7 documentary, citing legal concerns, other 'known risks'

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has sparked anger from filmmakers and Jewish groups after rescinding an invitation for a documentary about the October 7 attacks by Hamas terrorists, citing legal and safety concerns surrounding the project.

The film in question, The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue, was produced by Melbar Entertainment Group  and directed by Canadian filmmaker Barry Avrich. It tells the story of retired Israel Defence Forces General Noam Tibon, who raced an hour and a half from Tel Aviv to save his son Amir’s family in Kibbutz Nahal Oz near Gaza on October 7.

“This film is not about politics, it’s about humanity, family and sacrifice,” Avrich told Deadline magazine last year when the film, then titled To the Last Breath, was in pre-production. “In one day, one extraordinary man reversed the fate of his family and inspired the world. We look forward to working with Noam and his family to document this jaw-dropping story.”

In a recent statement to Deadline and others, TIFF said the filmmakers did not secure “legal clearance of all footage,” which was among the conditions the festival requested to mitigate “known risks around the screening of a film about highly sensitive subject matter, including potential threat of significant disruption.”

The filmmaking team and others are decrying what they see as censorship by the festival, and a possible desire to avoid images of disruptions in and around screenings.

“We are shocked and saddened that a venerable film festival has defied its mission and censored its own programming by refusing this film,” Avrich’s team said in a statement to National Post. “Ultimately, film is an art form that stimulates debate from every perspective that can both entertain us and make us uncomfortable. A film festival lays out the feast and the audience decides what they will or won’t see.”

The team added: “We are not political filmmakers, nor are we activists; we are storytellers. We remain defiant, we will release the film, and we invite audiences, broadcasters, and streamers to make up their own mind, once they have seen it.”

The Times of Israel , citing sources close to the film’s production, said the reason for the cancellation was that the filmmakers had not received explicit permission to use videos taken by Hamas terrorists during the attack, and livestreamed at the time.

“The topic of creators’ rights is something I work with regularly,” said Talia Harris Ram, a producer on the film, per the Times. “There’s no legal problem with showing these clips, which were already streamed live on October 7. From an intellectual property standpoint, they are clearly in the public domain.”

Canada’s Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) said in its own statement: “It is unconscionable that TIFF is allowing a small mob of extremists — who use intimidation and threats of violence — to dictate what films Canadians can see at the festival.” It added: “This shameful decision sends an unmistakable message: Toronto’s Jewish community, which has long played an integral role at TIFF, is no longer safe or welcome.”

In an email sent to tens of thousands of Canadian Jewish community members and allies on Wednesday, the CIJA called on supporters to contact TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey and urge him to reverse the decision and include The Road Between Us in the festival program. “It is a stain on the festival’s reputation and a blow to the values Canadians hold dear,” the email said.

The group Canadian Women Against Antisemitism has also released a statement on social media, calling on supporters to demand that TIFF reverse its decision, and to “tell Ontario and Canada: No more funding for cultural capitulation.” (The provincial and federal government are both TIFF sponsors.)

BREAKING: The Toronto International Film Festival has pulled an October 7 documentary over alleged “Hamas copyright” claims.TIFF removed The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue, which tells the story of Noam Tibon, who saved his two granddaughters while surrounded by Hamas… pic.twitter.com/Uk2SUKBR2h

— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) August 13, 2025

TIFF released the following statement: “The invitation for the Canadian documentary film The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue was withdrawn by TIFF because general requirements for inclusion in the Festival, and conditions that were requested when the film was initially invited, were not met, including legal clearance of all footage.

”The purpose of the requested conditions was to protect TIFF from legal implications and to allow TIFF to manage and mitigate anticipated and known risks around the screening of a film about highly sensitive subject matter, including potential threat of significant disruption.

“As per our terms and conditions for participation in the Festival, TIFF may disqualify from participation in the Festival any Film that TIFF determines in its sole and absolute discretion would not be in TIFF’s best interest to include in the Festival.”

Last year the film Russians at War was denounced as Russian propaganda by Ukrainian groups, then-Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and others. TIFF defended its inclusion in the festival, but then cancelled screenings and ultimately gave the film a limited release only after the festival ended.

A screening of TIFF’s opening-night film Nutcrackers by David Gordon Green also saw protests against the festival’s bank partner Royal Bank of Canada for its ties to Israel.

TIFF this year runs from Sept. 4 to 14 at the Lightbox and other nearby locations in downtown Toronto.

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