The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue

Source: Noam Tibon

The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue

Filmmaker Barry Avrich spoke at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on Saturday about his reinstated documentary The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue, and said festival CEO Cameron Bailey told him that it had been a “mistake” to withdraw the film.

The film about retired Israeli general Noam Tibon’s mission to rescue family members on the day of the October 7 2023 Hamas terror attacks was initially withdrawn by TIFF, ostensibly over concerns relating to rights clearances involving footage from Hamas body cameras.

Avrich, speaking at a TIFF Industry Conference event, said that after a “painful” five days of “back and forth” with the festival in which he made it clear that his team were diligent when researching material, he spoke to Bailey shortly before the festival.

“I met Cameron Bailey to talk it through,” Avrich said. “He felt the process was a mistake, the decision [to disinvite] was a mistake.”

TIFF had no comment by Saturday evening.

When the film was withdrawn in early August, 1,000 entertainment figures signed a petition condemning the move. At the time Bailey said claims that the film was pulled due to censorship were ”unequivocally false” and The Road Between Us was reinstated in mid-August. It premieres on September 10, with no further public or press and industry screenings.

Avrich said: “We use visual researchers who are well-schooled in licensing footage. I’ve made 70 different films and it’s not my first rodeo. To the best of my knowledge I’ve not known Hamas to have a licensing division. If they did, we’d ask who were the rightful owners […] We talked to our researchers and legal team and believed that footage was available to use.”

Speaking of the selection controversy, the Canadian filmmaker, who asserted the footage was not a recreation, continued: “It was one of the strangest episodes of my career. The festival was aware it was coming. They screened it and the reasoning that the filmmakers didn’t have legal clearance for footage seemed unusual to me and I don’t know where that came from.

”We went into this assuring the festival that anything they needed to feel comfortable, we would do. The festival asked to be added to an errors and omissions [insurance] policy and we did it. Once that’s done, if anybody sues them, it becomes my responsibility. We added a film production indemnification for the film festival, well in advance [of the film being invited].”

Avrich also learned that a narrative feature version of the story is in the works. Speaking about the origins of his documentary, he said that he cold-called Tibon after he heard about the retired general’s frantic journey with his wife in a Jeep from Tel Aviv to rescue family members at the Nahal Oz kibbutz, helping others along the way.

“It was not easy,” he said, “because they were in the process of negotiating a scripted feature […] with high-profile people, and [someone] thought this would get in the way… We agreed if I could release my documentary before their scripted feature, we could go ahead.”

Avrich added: “A script has been approved. I don’t know who the director and talent attached are… It’s going to get made.”

Cineplex Pictures distributes The Road Between Us in Canada and Independent Artist Group represents US sales.

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