Unique testimony or insidious Russian propaganda? Russians at war (Russians at War), a two-hour documentary that follows the lives of Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine and gives them a voice, is causing heated controversy wherever it is shown. On Thursday, September 12, the Toronto International Film Festival went into action. “unprecedented”consisting of “pause” all screenings of the film by Russian-Canadian director Anastasia Trofimova. “This decision was made to ensure the safety of all guests, staff and volunteers.”explains a press release from the festival.
Two days earlier, the Canadian educational channel TVO, which co-produced the film, announced in its press release that it no longer wanted to support or broadcast Russians at warafter having “I listened to the Ukrainian Canadian community and their thoughtful and sincere comments”Critics criticize the film for presenting Russian soldiers in a favorable light, while the context and suffering of Ukrainians are obscured.
The controversy began at the Venice Film Biennale, where the film was screened out of competition on September 6. Among the dissenting voices is that of exiled Russian film critic Anton Dolin, who writes on his Facebook page that the film “It should not be the subject of criticism, but of research”. An allusion to one of the most controversial aspects of Russians at war : its filming conditions.
Seven months at the front
For her part, Anastasia Trofimova says that her film is “antimilitarist” and which judges the Russian invasion in Ukraine “illegal and unjustified.” This thirty-something woman with long black hair claims to have spent seven months filming Russian soldiers on the front line without authorization from the Ministry of Defense. However, the Russian General Staff, which places information warfare at the heart of its military doctrine, does not tolerate the presence of “journalists” only very closely supervised. Checkpoints are set up on all access routes to the front and identities are carefully verified.
But in an interview with World from Toronto, M.me Trofimova claims, on the contrary, that “The front is a zone of chaos, far from the headquarters” and, dressed in a Russian military uniform, had no difficulty hiding within the unit that had accepted her presence. “The commander, when he discovered my presence, cursed me but preferred to look the other way rather than alert the FSB. [le tout-puissant service de sécurités russe], which could have gotten him into trouble. »
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