It was an unusually bumpy road for Barry Avrich’s documentary to make it to the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue follows the story of retired Israeli general Noam Tibon racing on October 7 to save his son and his family who were hiding in Kibbutz Nahal Oz, one of the hardest hit communities on the Gaza border.
In August, reports emerged that TIFF leaders had pulled the film from its roster, citing its failure to meet “legal clearance for all footage.” Avrich said at the time that the announcement blindsided him, leaving him “shocked and saddened that a venerable film festival has defied its mission and censored its own programming by refusing this film.”
Pressure quickly mounted against TIFF, with prominent Toronto politicians and Hollywood celebrities condemning the film festival’s decision. TIFF chief executive Cameron Bailey soon reversed the decision and expressed his “sincere apologies for any pain this situation may have caused.” On Wednesday afternoon, before a packed crowd that had gathered for the film’s premiere at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, Bailey apologized directly to the Jewish community.
On Thursday, Avrich and Tibon spoke with National Post about the importance of the documentary, the hurdles they faced and what lessons they wish audiences would take from the film. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
How does it feel now that the premiere has happened and people got to see what you worked on?
Avrich: In making a lot of films, I’ve never felt so fulfilled walking onto that stage and feeling an audience that large have your back. So there is a feeling of fulfillment and vindication. Because I’ve always said from day one, watch the film and make up your own mind. Don’t have a preconceived notion that the film is going to be political or whatever. Watch it, and then let’s have a conversation about it. So that last night was emotional, thrilling, frightening, but more importantly, very, very fulfilling.
How have the last six or eight weeks been for you both?
Avrich: Extraordinarily emotional. I’ve entered film festivals before and have not been successful in getting films in. That’s the life of a filmmaker. This one, there were different stakes because the film had been accepted. So that was very, very difficult. I just kept saying to Noam, and we spoke two or three times a day, don’t cancel your ticket. Do not cancel your ticket. This is not going to be easy.
I can’t promise you what the ending will look like, but I can promise you that this film will be in a theatre during a film festival or not. We went into this with a strategy, and once we heard it wasn’t in, to remain as defiant as we can. I don’t think anybody anticipated the global response. However, we had a plan and we were going to stick with it, and I think it ended up being an educational process for us, as well as (TIFF CEO) Cameron Bailey.
Tibon: This is not my world. I was very happy that we got into the TIFF festival because it’s a very, very important stage. And I was very disappointed when we were out, mainly because of the excuse of the rights of Hamas. And I think Barry handled this battle very well. And I was overwhelmed from the support that we got in the United States, of course, here in Canada and also in Israel and all over the world. People supported the movie, and that’s why I was happy that we were back in.
I appreciate that Cameron Bailey apologized, and the most important (thing) is the movie and I hope that as many people in the world will watch it. And for me, my goal is, that at the end of the day, they will sit in the car on their way back home, and they will discuss what would we do if something like this would happen in our family? And I think this is the main issue, the family, the values. And for me, it was a great honour to be here on the stage yesterday.
What message do you want Canadian audiences to take away from the documentary?
Avrich: I don’t want to be cliché, but: family, family, family. I think the universal connection here, no matter what’s going on in the world, is to protect your family, and, more importantly, spend time with your family. Things can change in 24 hours. Things can change in an hour. So spend some time in this world that’s become very dark, and just find this ray of escape and this ray of light to hug your family, nurture them, and find a moment here. That’s what I’m asking for.
We did not set out to make a political film and have a perspective politically, and I think that’s where Noam and I found common ground. I’m not that guy. I’m going to be focusing on this moment of heroism within incredible tragedy. And so I want people to not have a preconceived notion of what the film is, because of a region that it’s set in. I’ve always said this, this is a film wrapped in a flag of family, not politics or a country per se.
Tibon: You know, Barry took my answer. So I would add only this: as an Israeli, it was very important for me that nobody can erase what happened on October 7.
Do you have any future plans in terms of the film?
Avrich: I’m going to work extraordinarily hard with Noam to make sure that this film is seen. It opens theatrically Oct. 3 in major markets in North America, and then I want schools and community organizations to see this. Jewish. Not Jewish. It doesn’t matter. It’s a story of family. As we’ve said, there’s a universal message. So I’m going to make sure that no stone is unturned, and that anybody who wants to see this film, anybody that should see this film, sees it.
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