From October 7 to the Screen

From October 7 to the Screen: The Story Behind The Road Between Us

By Mark Selby

At times, it felt like the road for The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue was a rocky one, with many unexpected detours.

As one of the film’s producers, I am happy to report that our story has a happy ending: after an acclaimed world premiere at TIFF (more on that below), a theatrical run in 80 cinemas across North America, and over seventy-five screenings (with as many more to come) at festivals and communities around the world — including Holy Blossom last December — the film is finally being released to Canadian audiences at home.

Yes, the most-talked-about documentary of last year is available to rent or buy on Amazon and Apple … and, starting today (Friday, March 13), you can stream the film FREE on CBC Gem, with subsequent linear broadcasts to come.

Directed by Barry Avrich, The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue tells the story of two Israeli grandparents who risk their lives by driving into the line of fire to save their family in Kibbutz Nahal Oz on October 7, 2023, located less than a kilometre away from the Gaza border.

We flew to Israel in November 2024 and spent an intense week with Gen. Noam Tibon and his family, retracing his route that day that led him and his wife, Gali, to the Kibbutz, saving not only their family but injured soldiers, Nova Festival survivors, and civilians along the way.

If you weren’t already familiar with the story, you may have heard about the documentary, thanks to some international headlines last year.

Barry and I were honoured to learn that the Toronto International Film Festival selected the documentary to have its world premiere at the 2025 festival, its landmark 50th edition.

Then, due to internal pressure and security concerns, the film was pulled from the line-up. When reached for comment by the press to explain the change, a spokesperson for TIFF claimed that we hadn’t obtained the proper clearances for the footage used in the film … the same footage that the Hamas terrorists livestreamed on the internet on the day of the attacks, and which is readily available, in the public domain, for anyone who wants to bear witness to these horrific images.

Although in 2023, Hollywood was strangely silent in the wake of the October 7th terrorist attacks, save for a few outspoken celebrities, the rallying cries of the creative community to the apparent censorship of the film at TIFF was loud and passionate. In Toronto, in Canada, in the U.S., and around the world, the media began to take notice, and eventually, TIFF reinstated our film in their line-up.

We ended up at the Festival’s largest venue, Roy Thomson Hall, screening for an audience that gave the film — and its two heroes, who flew in from Israel for the premiere — several heartwarming standing ovations.

During all of this, the support of the Jewish community in Toronto cannot be understated; when our film received its theatrical release, timed to the two-year anniversary of the attacks, in early October (on 20 screens across Canada and 60 more in the U.S.), Toronto cinema-goers kept us on the big screen for six weeks, a rarity for any documentary and especially for a Canadian film. The Road Between Us ended up as the highest-grossing documentary in Canadian theatres last year, according to Telefilm.

The film tells an incredible story of heroism and bravery in the face of unspeakable horror and tragedy, and we are thrilled that the journey continues for the film. I hope you get a chance to see the film, either on Amazon, Apple, or, thanks to our partners at CBC, for free on CBC Gem, starting today.