US EditionTIFF Pulls Documentary on 2023 Hamas Attack From Festival Lineup, Citing Footage Rights Issue
TIFF withdrew the film due to unclear legal rights for Hamas-filmed footage and concerns over disruptive protests, citing unmet editorial and clearance requirements for sensitive content.
- A TIFF spokesperson told Deadline that on August 13, 2025, the festival withdrew its invitation to Barry Avrich’s documentary The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue for not meeting legal clearance and other conditions.
- Amid potential disruptions, TIFF cited general requirements like legal clearance and asked filmmakers to re-edit and remove Hamas-shot footage of October 7, 2023.
- Pro-Palestinian demonstrators disrupted events on Oct. 7, and filmmakers said TIFF had “censored its own programming.”
- Supporters announced a public screening in early September in Toronto, organized by the city’s Jewish community, parallel to TIFF’s festival activities.
- Other festivals like Locarno faced Gaza-conflict protests earlier this month, highlighting ongoing tensions over festival censorship and perspectives.
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Toronto Film Festival Denies Blocking Oct. 7 Doc Over Censorship, Says Legal Team, Filmmaker Working to Screen It
Skyline of Toronto, Canada. Photo Credit: Aaron Davis, Wikimedia Commons, June 2020. The CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) said late Wednesday that efforts are being made to ensure the screening of a documentary about the Hamas-led deadly massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, after receiving backlash for removing the film from the festival’s lineup. TIFF CEO Bailey Cameron also denied claims about censoring “The Road Between Us…
Toronto Film Festival Cancels Screenings of Israeli Documentary About Oct. 7 Attack
The organizers of Canada’s largest film festival have pulled from the event’s lineup an Israeli documentary about the Oct. 7 attacks that included footage of atrocities live streamed by Hamas fighters. The makers of the film, “The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue,” this week accused The Toronto International Film Festival of censorship, an assertion that the festival organizers denied. Instead, festival organizers said the filmmakers had fai…
A new documentary about the Hamas attack in Israel on October 7, 2023, has been removed from the Toronto International Film Festival. Organizers rejected the film for a remarkable reason.
A documentary on October 7th was a program of the Canadian festival because its director would not have obtained the permission of terrorists to use their image.
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