Since the film, which is about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, premiered at the film festival in Venice earlier in September, it has stirred up emotions in Ukrainian circles, who consider it pro-Russian and trying to justify Russia's attack on its neighbor.
In Toronto, demonstrators and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland have urged the festival organizers to cancel the screening of the film, something they have so far been unwilling to do.
"This is an unprecedented move for TIFF, but given the seriousness of these threats, we cannot continue as planned," the festival organizers wrote in a statement.
Embedded with Russians
Russian-Canadian filmmaker Anastasia Trofimova was embedded with a Russian battalion in eastern Ukraine. She rejects the criticism and tells the AFP news agency that "Russians at war" is an anti-war film that shows "ordinary guys fighting for Russia and being treated as cannon fodder".
The soldiers depicted in the film seem to have vague ideas about why they were sent to the front and struggle to make Soviet-era weapons usable. Others chain-smoke and drink alcohol surrounded by dead and wounded comrades.
Ukraine: Right decision
One of the film's producers, Philippe Levasseur, says they rather expected a backlash in Russia, since the Russian soldiers in the film express that they are "tired of this war".
He also says that he understands the reactions from the Ukrainian side, but believes it is important to tell "all aspects of this story".
Andrij Jermak, chief of staff in Ukraine's presidential office, thinks the festival should have dropped the film earlier, and Ukraine's consul general in Toronto says it is "the only right decision".
