Film festival demands Hamas consent for Oct. 7 documentary

The Toronto International Film Festival canceled an Oct. 7 documentary, claiming the filmmakers needed Hamas’ permission to use publicly available bodycam footage of the massacre.

By World Israel News Staff

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) canceled the screening of a documentary about the October 7 massacres, claiming the filmmakers should have sought permission from Hamas to use clips of the slaughter filmed on terrorists’ body-worn cameras.

The documentary, The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue, tells the story of ex-Israeli army general Noam Tibon, who rescued his son and family from Kibbutz Nahal Oz during the Hamas invasion of Israel.

The Gaza-adjacent kibbutz was one of the hardest hit communities on October 7th, with some 25 percent of residents either kidnapped or killed on that day.

Canadian filmmaker Barry Avrich included clips taken from the bodycams of Hamas terrorists in the film.

That footage is entirely available in the public domain, with much of it livestreamed by the terrorists on social media in real time during the attacks.

TIFF recently pulled the film from its lineup, saying Avrich was creating potential legal risks by not requesting permission from the individual Hamas terrorists who recorded the footage while participating in the massacre.

“The invitation for the Canadian documentary film The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue was withdrawn by TIFF because general requirements for inclusion in the festival, and conditions that were requested when the film was initially invited, were not met,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 festival said in a statement to Deadline.

The festival also cited “risks around the screening of a film about highly sensitive subject matter, including potential threat of significant disruption.”

Those concerns appear to indicate fears of protests by anti-Israel activists opposed to the screening.

“The Toronto Film Festival has succumbed to pressure and threats, and has chosen to silence and erase October 7,” said Tibon, the film’s protagonist.

“My message to the festival management: The truth cannot be erased. The atrocities committed by Hamas cannot be erased or denied.”

In a media statement, the film’s producers said they “remain defiant” and that they “invite audiences, broadcasters, and streamers” to watch the documentary.