Dear ...,
I am a member of a Ukrainian diaspora in Toronto, and I want to bring to your attention the alarming news that reached our community this morning. As you are well aware, TIFF is showcasing a film called "Russians at War" by a director who went to Russia-occupied Ukraine to film the material.
Here's why this is problematic:
1. Trofimova, the film director, has illegally crossed the Ukrainian border and spent 7 months with Russian military battalion committing war in Ukraine, breaching Ukrainian law, international law and possibly, Canadian sanctions. The director has also breached all the international regulations related to the journalists at war, wearing a Russian military uniform during the work on the movie.
2. This film was funded by Canadian Media Fund, which in turn is supported by the Canadian Government, and received $340,000 of taxpayers money. I am a proud and diligent tax payer in Canada, along with millions other Ukrainians providing professional services, running businesses and creating job opportunities for Canadians in the Canadian market. As a representative of this significant community, I am deeply concerned about my tax money being used to bring Russian propaganda to Canada.
3. The director has previously filmed documentaries for Russian propaganda TV channel "Russia Today", which is banned in Canada. This is a prominent propagandist media in Russia which is known for promoting the narratives of destroying the Western world.
4. The content of the movie proclaims that there are no war crimes committed by Russia, equalizing the aggressor and the victim, which is a lie. This is evidenced by 100,000 recorded war crimes by the Ukrainian government and the International Criminal Count recognizing Vladimir Putin as a war criminal. The film director openly states that the goal of her movie is “sharing a different story” about the Russian soldiers, which is a euphemism to whitewashing the tragedy, death and destruction Russian soldiers are bringing to Ukrainian territories.
We demand the cancellation of all screenings of this movie and a public apology for this situation. By showcasing this film and giving the voice to the terrorist and aggressor, Canada is complicit in weakening the support for Ukraine and in the hundreds of thousands of deaths Ukraine has suffered to date.
Looking forward to the earliest resolution of the issue, and I stay at your disposal for any questions or clarifications.
Sincerely,
