A programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival was therecipient of a death threat on Tuesday. The anonymous caller was protesting thefestival's inclusion of a feature documentary, Casuistry:The Art Of KillingA Cat, a film aboutthree Toronto visual art students who in 2001 killed a cat as part of ananti-meat art project and their subsequent trial for cruelty to animals. Thecaller threatened to "skin alive" Real-To-Reel programmer Sean Farnel and"shove knives in his eyes." Toronto police are investigating.

TIFF has fieldeda wave of complaints concerning the film, directed by Montreal filmmaker ZevAsher, after a Toronto animal rights group, Freedom For Animals, posted aletter on its website urging TIFF not to screen the film and accusing the filmof bias towards the students and justifying their crime. TIFF co-directorsPiers Handling and Noah Cowan said they had no intention of pulling the filmfrom the programme.