Pro-Palestine Protesters Interrupt TIFF Opening Night, Audience Boos

An opening night screening at the Toronto Film Festival was interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters rallying against the Royal Bank of Canada, which is the official bank partner of TIFF.

The four protesters entered the Princess of Wales Theatre ahead of the 6 p.m. showing of “Nutcrackers,” a dramedy starring Ben Stiller and directed by David Gordon Green, while chanting, “RBC funds genocide,” in an apparent reference to the bank’s ties to Israel, as the country’s war with Gaza enters its 11th month.

The protesters held signs with messages including “RBC is killing our future,” as seen in videos posted by New York Times reporter Kyle Buchanan. The protesters were escorted out of the theater by security after about five minutes.

As TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey plodded through his opening remarks, ignoring the interruption, the audience seated for “Nutcrackers” booed the protesters and shouted back, “Go home!” and “Go away!”

Representatives for TIFF and RBC did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.

This isn’t the first time that RBC’s involvement at TIFF has caused controversy. Last year, before the Oct. 7 attack that started the war in the Middle East, a group of Canadian filmmakers joined together with Hollywood stars urging the Toronto Film Festival to cut its ties with RBC because of its funding of the oil and gas industry. The campaign, called RBC Off Screen, recruited A-listers such as Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams and Joaquin Phoenix to sign an open letter outlining its concerns about RBC’s presence at TIFF.

TIFF will officially kick off its 49th edition at 8 p.m. with the official world premiere of “Nutcrackers.” Over the next 10 days, films like Ron Howard’s survival thriller “Eden,” Marielle Heller’s horror comedy “Nightbitch” with Amy Adams, the animated “The Wild Robot” and John Crowley’s “We Live in Time,” starring Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh, will screen for Canadian audiences.

This year’s festival, which run from Sept. 5-15, hopes to rebound after last year’s event was hobbled by the actors and writers strikes that prevented major stars from attending.