"We have worked together to find a resolution to satisfy important safety, legal and programming concerns," TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey and the filmmakers said in a joint statement
Toronto International Film Festival reinstated its invitation to screen Oct. 7 documentary "The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue" on Thursday. The film will now once again be in the lineup for the September festival.
"Over the past 24 hours, there has been much discussion about TIFF's decision to
withdraw its invitation to 'The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue' for this year's festival. Both TIFF and the filmmakers have heard the pain and frustration
expressed by the public and we want to address this together," TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey and "The Road Between us" filmmaker Barry Avrich said in a joint statement. "We have worked together to find a resolution to satisfy important safety, legal, and programming concerns.
"We are pleased to share that 'The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue' will be an official TIFF selection at the festival this year, where we believe it will contribute to the vital conversations that film is meant to inspire. In this case, TIFF's communication around its requirements did not clearly articulate the concerns and roadblocks that arose and for that, we are sorry."
This news comes after the film, directed by Avrich, was pulled from the festival on Tuesday due to a lack of proper clearance for Hamas footage.
"The invitation for the Canadian documentary film 'The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue' was withdrawn by TIFF because general requirements for inclusion in the Festival, and conditions that were requested when the film was initially invited, were not met, including legal clearance of all footage," TIFF said in a Wednesday statement to Screen Daily after the film was pulled.
In the wake of this decision, Bailey denied claims of censorship over the matter, stating that the film was removed from the festival lineup for a lack of adherence to TIFF standards rather than political reasons.
"I want to be clear: claims that the film was rejected due to censorship are unequivocally false," Bailey wrote in a note. "I remain committed to working with the filmmaker to meet TIFF's screening requirements to allow the film to be screened at this year's festival. I have asked our legal team to work with the filmmaker on considering all options available."