The controversial and zig-zagging journey for the Oct. 7 rescue movie The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue had another twist on Sunday when it picked up the People’s Choice award for best documentary at the Toronto Film Festival.
Director Barry Avrich’s documentary is about a retired Tel Aviv general driving through great danger to save his son’s family at a kibbutz near Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023.
“To win this award is thrilling for Mark and I. The audience voted and I appreciate that. And we look forward to the rest of this journey,” Avrich said while accepting the doc audience award trophy at the Lightbox theater alongside producer Mark Selby. The Canadian documentary centers on retired Israeli general Noam Tibon rescuing his family, including his son, from Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023 when they invaded kibbutz Nahal Oz.
The Road Between Us generated buzz at TIFF with a world premiere that sparked pre-festival programming intrigue, cheers during a single Roy Thomson Hall screening on Sept. 10 and a tense protest amid the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict involving supporters from both sides outside the high profile Toronto festival venue.
TIFF organizers first invited Avrich’s film for its 2025 edition, and then disinvited the title, only to then reinstated the film after an outcry from the Canadian Jewish community and politicians and influencers in Israel. Eventually, Avrich and TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey settled their differences over “safety, legal and programming concerns” to allow the world premiere for the documentary to go ahead during the 50th edition.
Fest organizers raised early flags that clearances for footage of terrorist attacks taken by Hamas cameras and included in the documentary had not been obtained. It’s understood that security concerns over a possible protest against the Israel Oct. 7 film also were in play.
“And Cameron, thank you. I appreciate everything that TIFF has done for us,” a magnanimous Avrich said Sunday morning as he turned to Bailey on the Lightbox stage after accepting the award. For his part, producer Selby added in his own acceptance remarks: “I hope that all the filmmakers of this festival feel as supported as Barry and I did during this whole process.”
The Road Between Us will be mostly self-released on around 125 screens in more than 20 cities throughout North America beginning Oct. 3.