With the screening of the October 7 movie on the first show in TIFF, the director says the audience should be the judge

Retired Israeli military general Nam Thibbon enjoyed a quiet morning on October 7, 2023, when he received a text from his son, Amir, who had never expected him.

Hamas was in Kibbutz for his family, as he told the prince of his father, and they were killing people.

“At that moment, (I made) a decision that I am using all my skills, all my experience, everything, to save my family,” Tebon told CBC News. “I think this was the most important decision I made on that day.”

So he went on a 14 -hour trip to save his son’s family, not perfectly aware of what the danger might wait for him.

Tibon says his story revolves around the lengths we go to the family. Director Barry Avrich, who turned this story into the documentary The road between us: the final rescue, Entry to judge his movie by the fans in the end.

The documentary was withdrawn, then it was re -invest

The film was on a trip from Costaster since August 13, Matthew Tif withdrew the movie from the squad Regarding concerns about the rights of footage and security issues, although the festival said at the time that he is still trying to work through these concerns with filmmakers.

This decision sparked a violent reaction, including from Israeli politicians and Jewish groups From Canada and abroad.

The next day, both sides Declare They mocked fears, and that the documentary will be cut off at this year’s festival.

Now, Avrich says that the decision to see the movie or not settle with the audience.

“If you don’t want to go, don’t go. If you don’t want to buy a ticket, don’t buy a ticket,” Canadian director told CBC News.

Indeed, the movie has Decree demonstrations. During the weekend, a few dozen demonstrators waved Palestinian flags and brought fake blood blankets as pillars. One of the demonstrators told the Canadian press that he was concerned about “art washing” at the “Art Washing” festival in the Gaza Strip.

Ultimately, Avrich says it is okay if some people do not like the movie, as the goal of festivals is to expose people to new ideas and generate the debate.

“This is what is going on around it,” he said, adding that TIFF should be “bringing fans to movies sometimes make them feel uncomfortable.”

TIFF DININVITE “A very difficult day”

Avrich says he is “very excited” when he first discovered in July that his movie had been accepted at the festival.

He says that at the time at the time, TIFF organizers had questions about some of the shots that he used-specifically, they wanted to make sure that the documentary had used real shots instead of the scenes that were redesigned, and this video that Hamas took correctly was identified.

Avrich says that his movie team always aims to correctly classify Lamas Footage in The Final Cut, and that there are no scenes that were re -created in the movie, so it was confident that they could do these details with the festival.

But he says that concerns about how the audience reaches the movie and whether it will allow the “correct mixture in terms of programming for the festival”, which he says is what ultimately led to the opening of the movie.

While he had films that were rejected from the festivals before, Avrich said this decision was particularly difficult. “Once before you, I know that you are no longer present … it was a very difficult day,” he said.

TIFF did not answer specific questions from CBC News, but CEO Cameron Billy has already been I apologize As for the pain that caused the removal of the movie, and confusion regarding the festival’s requirements.

A joint statement from Billy and Africh in the wake of the final decision to include the documentary in the collection, read partially, “If Tif continues about his requirements, he did not clearly express the concerns and road barriers that have arisen and for this we regret.”

Avrich says that a balance in a group of films is an important part of assembling a festival, adding that it is believed that the TIFF list is achieving this balance.

Hind Rajab’s voice and Palestine 36 Both tell the stories of the Palestinians and are shown in TIFF this year.

“You cannot ignore the complex stories from either side, from any area,” said Ephretch. “If you will tell one story, let’s look at another story and make sure you give the audience an opportunity to look at different views.”

The topic of the supportive film

For his part, Thibbon felt supported by people all over the world who called TIFF to return the movie to the squad.

He says that restoring his attempts to save his family for the documentary movie Avrich was not always easy, and he did not watch the footage in the final movie, which he says he was returned directly to the day of the attack.

“I was fighting all my life. So I saw bodies, but I haven’t seen such terrible scenes as on October 7,” Tibon said.

He hopes to make the movie viewers think about their families, and what they will do to maintain their safety.

“Each of us who has a family, has children, grandchildren, this is our whole world. This is the most important thing in our lives,” he said. “My goal is that … people will give courage to take action.”