Oct. 7 documentary, initially pulled from Toronto Film Festival, wins prize

The world premiere of the film last week led to clashes outside the hall between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel demonstrators.

By JNS

A documentary about a retired Israeli general’s efforts to rescue his family during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre won the People’s Choice Award for best documentary at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday, after being initially pulled from the lineup.

The Canadian-produced film, “The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue,” tells the story of how Noam Tibon rescued his son, daughter-in-law, and two granddaughters during the Hamas invasion of southern Israel.

Tibon also extracted survivors of the Nova Music Festival attack and rescued wounded soldiers during his mission to save his family.

Last month, the Toronto Film Festival had abruptly removed the film from the lineup prompting international outrage before doing an about-face and reinstating it.

The world premiere of the film last week led to clashes outside the hall between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel demonstrators.

A TIFF spokesman told Deadline, an online Hollywood news site, last month that the film was removed from the lineup “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.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar criticized and satirized the decision, writing on X that it was made because “there was no ‘legal clearance’ from Hamas for their GoPro massacre videos.”

The festival, he added, “would have asked Hitler or Goebbels for copyright on Auschwitz footage,” adding, “Of course, the festival is about to screen five Palestinian films. This vicious and sickening decision must be canceled immediately!”

The Toronto International Film Festival backtracked following blowback over its initial decision and denied it had censored the film.

“I want to be clear: Claims that the film was rejected due to censorship are unequivocally false,” TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey said in a post to X. “I remain committed to working with the filmmaker to meet TIFF’s screening requirements to allow the film to be screened at this year’s festival.”