From the Liveblog of
Friday, September 6, 2024
Anti-Israel protesters removed from opening night of Toronto film festival
Anti-Israel protesters disrupt an opening night screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, chanting “Stop the genocide!” during opening remarks.
At the screening for the David Gordon Green comedy “Nutcrackers” Thursday night, four protesters walked down the center aisle of the Princess of Wales Theatre, carrying signs and flashlights while shouting criticism of festival sponsor Royal Bank of Canada.
“Cut ties with RBC,” they yell.
Chaos at tiff night 1 with folks protesting Roger’s funding the war in Israel. After about 4 min they were removed peacefully pic.twitter.com/x95GNSBHTV
— melissa (@cybermelli) September 5, 2024
Cameron Bailey, festival director, tries to maintain order, urging the protesters from the podium, “We are here to start the festival.” Numerous crowd members boo the protesters.
The protest lasts for several minutes before the demonstrators are ushered out by security. Several attendees post videos online of the episode.
Among the films being screened at TIFF this year is “The Bibi Files,” an American documentary about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial.
