After a winding path to its Toronto premiere, The Road Between Us is taking the fast lane to theaters.
The Israeli rescue movie will be essentially self-released on some 125 screens in more than 20 cities throughout North America beginning Oct. 3, representatives for the film say. The release barely three weeks after its Toronto premiere is unusual, and the movie will seek to capitalize on festival buzz for a word-of-mouth-driven set of commercial screenings. (In Canada the movie’s rollout will get an assist from Cineplex Pictures, the genre arm of the popular chain.)
The release only includes theatrical; filmmakers still hope to land a streaming or television deal.
Barry Avrich’s documentary 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, garnered headlines when TIFF organizers first invited then disinvited the title, eventually reinstating it after a global outcry. On Wednesday, the movie premiered to a warm reception from 1,800 festgoers in Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall as a small protest unfolded outside the theater.
While the movie is being positioned as universal in its emphasis on family, it is likely to attract a similar grassroots Jewish audience that helped documentary October 8 become a surprise box office hit this spring. Still, that film had traditional distribution. The exhibition playbook here comes more from No Other Land, a movie with a very different perspective on Israeli-Palestinian relations which nonetheless garnered millions with a similar self-release approach.
As streamers have shown reluctance to take on films with even mild political overtones and traditional theatrical exhibitors shy away from docs entirely, DIY has become an increasingly popular strategy for producers who want to get their film seen. With its early October release, the film also could capitalize on interest around the second anniversary of Oct 7.
You can watch the trailer for The Road Between Us, below.
