Canadian media organisation that financed film about "good Russian soldiers" will not show it
The Canadian media organisation TV Ontario (TVO), which provided funds for the production of the infamous film Russians at War by a Russian director, has decided not to show it in the future.
On 10 September, on behalf of the network's Board of Directors, a statement was published stating that they had heard the feedback and arguments about the film from the Ukrainian Canadian community.
"TVO’s Board of Directors has decided to respect the feedback we have received, and TVO will no longer be supporting or airing Russians at War. TVO will be reviewing the process by which this project was funded and our brand leveraged," the statement said.
TVO is an agency under the Ministry of Education of the Canadian province of Ontario that operates as a non-profit social service organisation.
The film by a Russian director received funding from the Canada Media Fund through TVO, and the fund confirmed that it had provided CAD 340,000 for the production of the film. The fund itself has claimed to be a source of funding and is not involved in the selection of projects for which it provides funds. After the scandal, the foundation said it was taking the public reaction very seriously and was looking into the situation.
The Consulate General of Ukraine in Toronto has also protested against the plans to screen Russians at War at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who has Ukrainian roots, condemned the screening of the film Russians at War at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Russians at War was screened at the Venice International Film Festival on 5 September. The director said she had spent seven months with a Russian battalion fighting in Ukraine, and it came as a shock to her to see that they were "absolutely ordinary guys with families and a sense of humour".
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis has expressed outrage that the Venice Film Festival screened the film.
Read more: Do the Russians cry too? Russia Today propagandist's film screened at the Venice Film Festival