The other day I posted about what I saw as a worrying trend - the removal of MPP Sarah Jama from Elle's online article featuring influential women. Jama's 'sin' was to be an advocate for Palestinians during Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza. Threats were made, and she was thus edited out. Apparently, to question the narrative that Israel can do no wrong is unacceptable.
In the same post, I wrote about TVO's decision not to screen the documentary Russia at War. This followed Chrystia Freeland's denunciation of the film, even though it is highly unlikely that she has seen it. All she knows is that anything that perhaps humanizes the 'enemy' must not be allowed to be seen.
The fallout continues from Freeland's screed continues.
The Toronto International Film Festival says it’s pausing upcoming screenings of the controversial documentary “Russians at War” due to “significant threats” to festival operations and public safety.
The film about Russian soldiers’ disillusionment at the front lines of the war in Ukraine was set to have its North American premiere at TIFF on Friday, with additional screenings on Saturday and Sunday.
“This is an unprecedented move for TIFF,” the festival said in a statement Thursday afternoon.
“As a cultural institution, we support civil discourse about and through films, including differences of opinion, and we fully support peaceful assembly. However, we have received reports indicating potential activity in the coming days that pose significant risk; given the severity of these concerns, we cannot proceed as planned.”
One cannot help but wonder whether TIFF perceives the real threat as having come from Freeland:
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland also denounced the use of public money to help fund and screen “Russians at War,” which received $340,000 through the Canada Media Fund and was produced in association with Ontario’s public broadcaster TVO.
In the anodyne, weaselly language typical of politicians, TIFF apparently wants to have it both ways.
TIFF has said that the documentary is “in no way” Russian propaganda as it stood by its decision to include it in this year’s programming.
“We believe this film has earned a place in our festival’s lineup, and we are committed to screening it when it is safe to do so,” festival organizers said Thursday.
This is what we have come to, in a nation that purports to hold freedom of expression as one of its highest values. The caveat to that value should be obvious to us: that freedom ends when it offends someone else, or offers an alternative view to the official 'story.'
And none of us should be happy about that.
In the same post, I wrote about TVO's decision not to screen the documentary Russia at War. This followed Chrystia Freeland's denunciation of the film, even though it is highly unlikely that she has seen it.
ReplyDeleteChrystia Freeland has been a strong supporter of Ukraine all of her life. Her maternal grandfather was from Ukraine and, at least a few years ago, she had apartment in Kyiv. I doubt that she needed to see it to condemn it.
That is absolutely true, Anon. Her desire to promote that bias, however, is unseemly and most inappropriate. As for TVO and TIFF, their spinelessness will not be forgotten, I suspect.
Deletehttps://www.readthemaple.com/chrystia-freeland-is-a-fraud-alleges-chrystia-freeland/
ReplyDeleteNote the flag/banner that she is holding in the first picture . It is the flag of the Ukrainian National Army, which was not a nice organization. IIRC, it was organized by Stepan Bandera, your friendly neigbourhood Nazi collaborator and war criminal.
Thank you for the link, Anon. It is clear that the waters are indeed muddy when Chrystia Freeland speaks about Ukraine, and the media are too timid to really probe for truth here.
DeleteYes, Chrystia Freeland's maternal grandfather seems to have been a Nazi collaborator as the editor or publisher of a German-supported newspaper. I doubt if he had any great love for the Soviets. He seems to have been evacuated to the West as the Germans retreated.
DeleteCanada accepted a lot of Ukrainian "refugees" at the request of Britain (and USA?) most of whom were fierce Western Ukrainian nationalists who despised the people in the Russian-speaking areas in Novorossiya to the East and in the South around Odessa and almost certainly were war criminals. Yaroslav Hunka of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division and Parliamentary fame, by Nuremberg rules, was a war criminals. I don't think her grandfather would have been considered a war criminal.
We also have the facts that most Western Ukrainians had until 1918 been citizens of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and then were citizens of Poland. They were Ukrainian Catholics.
To the East, the Russian-speaking people had always been citizens of the Russian Empire and then the Soviet Union. They were Russian Orthodox.
The entire area is a mad mess, ethnically and culturally. A friend of mine whose father came from the area told me her father had four passports without leaving home. He could not remember why he had the fourth.
You might find this interesting The Deschênes Commission . Last I heard some sections of the report are still classified.
Thanks for all of this information, Anon. Clearly, I need to know much more than I do about the entire history of this area.
DeleteDon't do it. It is like Tetras or a Rubik's Cube! I've had a very casual reading interest in the , historical novels and a bit of real history, for 40+ years and I still know almost nothing. Well, unless you need a Ph.D dissertation.
DeleteWhat you do not want to do is trusts anything the mainstream press reports. Early in the conflict I heard a CBC reporter describe something about the siege of Mariupol.
Don't do it, unless you need a PhD dissertation!
ReplyDeleteI've had a casual reading interest in the area for 30 years, historical novels, a bit of history, and some biographies. I still know almost nothing about the place.
What I do recommend though is that you do not trust anything in the mainstream media. Early on in what the Russians called the Special Military Operation and everybody else might call an invasion, I heard a report from the CBC about the siege of Mariupol.
Other than the fact that the reporter was about 1,500 kilometres from the city and he managed to talk about a city on the Black Sea when it, actually, is on the Sea of Azov I'm sure he was accurate.
A couple of days later I heard another CBC reporter talking about conditions in Kharkov. It was a good report except she was in Lvov which is 1000 km west of Kharkov
Thanks for the advice, Anon. This entire episode has taught me to be much more wary of what the MSM are writing, as they seem almost lemming-like in their reportage of the film. The Star's Rosie DiManno writes about it today:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/russians-at-war-isnt-propaganda-its-a-vital-testament-to-the-horrors-of-putins-brutality/article_4bb611e2-7210-11ef-b8a4-33470c7ec4e8.html