Anna Politkovskaya knew that tyranny respects no borders
'The entrance is well adapted for murder,' Anna Politkovskaya wrote in 2003, 'with dark corners in which you are your own rescue service.' She was describing the building in which a fellow journalist had been bludgeoned, but also foretelling her own death three years later. The assassination in her apartment block is the inexorable ending of 'Words of War', a new film about her life and fate. Politkovskaya's story and warnings are vital even now, amid the carnage in Ukraine. Especially now.
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Economist
13-05-2025
- Economist
Anna Politkovskaya knew that tyranny respects no borders
'The entrance is well adapted for murder,' Anna Politkovskaya wrote in 2003, 'with dark corners in which you are your own rescue service.' She was describing the building in which a fellow journalist had been bludgeoned, but also foretelling her own death three years later. The assassination in her apartment block is the inexorable ending of 'Words of War', a new film about her life and fate. Politkovskaya's story and warnings are vital even now, amid the carnage in Ukraine. Especially now.
BBC News
02-05-2025
- BBC News
'Anna Politkovskaya's persona was much greater'. Slain Russian journalist's sister on 'Words of War'
The thriller about slain Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, Words of War, opens in US cinemas today. The filmmakers took into account some of the inaccuracy concerns about the script raised by her family, Politkovskaya's sister Elena Kudimova told the film is coming out just in time for the World Press Freedom Day. Words of War was produced by Sean Penn. Anna Politkovskaya is played by Maxine Peake, and one of the leading male roles is performed by Jason of War tells the story of legendary Russian journalist and human rights activist Anna Politkovskaya. In Russia, her name is synonymous with courage and an indomitable spirit. She rose to prominence for her investigations into human rights abuses in Chechnya - a region in southern Russia that fought two wars for independence in the 1990s and early 2000s. Her older sister, Elena Kudimova, describes her as "someone who, despite all the threats and the danger to her life, kept doing her work until the very end."Politkovskaya openly criticised the Russian authorities and President Putin himself. Despite receiving numerous threats over the years, she refused to back down. Her sister recalls that while Politkovskaya considered emigration, she always changed her mind at the last moment. She would say: "I can't leave because nobody else will help the people here." Reporting the war in Chechnya From 1999, Politkovskaya traveled to Chechnya almost every month for several years. Kudimova recalls that for many wronged and desperate people, Politkovskaya became "the last resort" - the one who could make things right. She took part in the negotiations for Nord-Ost, the 2002 hostage crisis at a Moscow theatre, after the Chechen rebels specifically requested her. In 2004, she hoped to help resolve the crisis in Beslan, where heavily armed militants held hostages in a school for three days. However, she never made it there - she was poisoned on the plane while en route to 2006, Politkovskaya was shot dead in the elevator of her apartment building in Moscow. Six men were convicted over the murder, but the person who ordered it has never been identified. Her sister Elena doubts that the mastermind will ever be brought to justice. "If they had wanted to find him, they probably would have done so by now," Kudimova adds. Avoiding clichés Before the film's release, Politkovskaya's family raised concerns about the Words of War script, believing the film took too many liberties with the truth. While the filmmakers insist that the drama is based on real events, they emphasise that it is not a biography. However, Politkovskaya's sister notes that the filmmakers did take the family's feedback into account, and certain scenes that raised the most questions were removed from the final cut."[Anna's son] Ilya was portrayed in the original script as a sort of womanizer, [and in the film] Anna doesn't have a romance with [Dmitry] Muratov," she said. Dmitry Muratov, a Nobel Prize-winning journalist, was Anna Politkovskaya's former colleague at the Russian newspaper Novaya to Kudimova, Maxine Peake portrays her sister accurately, though she believes Anna's personality was "much greater and more complex" than what is depicted on screen. "Her real life had far more dramatic episodes than those shown in the film," she criticised the film's setting for leaning too heavily into cold-weather clichés. "I was struck by the fact that it's constantly snowing, as if Russia has only one season. In reality, we have all four." However, Kudimova is grateful that the film helps preserve the memory of her sister. Anna's legacy Kudimova said that Anna never thought about her own legacy. She recalled how, at some point, someone had suggested Anna write an autobiography - she was in her 40s at the time. Anna had laughed at the idea, saying it felt more like something you do when you're a hundred. But then she came up with the idea of writing six short stories. At the end of each, she said, she was supposed to die - but didn't, for different reasons. And they were going to be funny stories. When asked about how Anna would want to be remembered, Elena says that her sister did dot think about her legacy: "She simply wanted to live."Words of War will be released in the UK on 30 June
The Guardian
26-04-2025
- The Guardian
Telling the incredible tale of Anna Politkovskaya has taught me one thing: I could never be that brave
What drives someone to become a journalist? A good journalist, someone whose keyboard is a tool for exposing injustice, a truth-seeker who would risk life and limb to report their experiences back to the world? I know I couldn't do it. I've interviewed people for a research project and was hopeless. I found myself shying away from asking the really difficult questions. There's no way I could confront a corrupt official, or race to file a breaking story before a hostile regime tried to silence me, possibly for ever. I like to think of myself as the kind of person who would speak truth to power, but would I really, if my life was in the balance? One of the many privileges of being an actor is that it affords you the opportunity to dip your toes into other worlds and experiences from the safest possible distance. In the upcoming film Words of War, I have the honour of portraying the Russian journalist and human rights activist Anna Politkovskaya – a woman with immense courage and integrity who, despite numerous threats to her life, continued to be a blazing beacon of truth in a time and place where speaking truth was extremely dangerous. The film, which was partly inspired by Politkovskaya's obituary in this newspaper, allowed me to delve into her remarkable life and work. The experience gave me a deeper appreciation for the journalists who risk everything to tell the stories that inform and shape our world. Those who tell these stories face more threats than perhaps ever before. Journalism has become a dangerous profession; according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, more than 1,800 journalists and media workers have been killed while pursuing a story since 1992. Of these, at least 124 were killed in 2024 alone, making last year the deadliest in three decades. Nearly 70% of these deaths were at the hands of the Israeli military in Gaza and Lebanon. There was also a sharp 56% increase in the number of press violations against female journalists since 2023, according to the Coalition for Women in Journalism, including detentions, harassment, physical assault, threats and intimidation. Threats aren't reserved for war zones or authoritarian regimes. Journalists are also coming under attack in western democracies; on the US campaign trail, Donald Trump spoke about revoking broadcast licences and jailing journalists, while rich individuals in Britain have targeted journalists with insidious Slapps (strategic lawsuits against public participation). In preparation for my role as Politkovskaya, I immersed myself as much as I could in the lives of the people who report from the frontlines of conflict, corruption and catastrophe, reading about and talking face-to-face with some of these extraordinary women and men. Before leaving to film in Latvia, I had the honour of being invited to a memorial at St Brides Church, on Fleet Street in London, for the murdered American-Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. Abu Akleh was shot on 11 May 2022 while she was covering raids in Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. She was wearing a helmet and a clearly marked press vest. More than 1,000 days have passed since her death, yet no one has been held accountable. What struck me that day was the outpouring of love and respect from Abu Akleh's friends and colleagues in the wider journalistic fraternity. Like Politkovskaya, Abu Akleh was someone who dared to expose the truth. Reading about both of these extraordinary women while I prepared for the role, I was struck not only by their courage, but their clarity of purpose. These journalists were not thrill-seekers or fame-chasers. They were driven by something elemental: the absolute belief that telling the truth matters. We rely on journalists to expose injustice, hold power to account, and to shine light into the world's darkest corners. Without them, abuse and corruption remain unchecked and unknown. As John Adams, one of America's founding fathers, put it: 'The liberty of the press is essential to the security of the state.' Yet everywhere that journalists are being threatened or silenced, this principle is being eroded. This is not only a problem for journalists, but a threat to all of us, and to our democratic freedoms. That's why it is so important that we must protect those who do the work of asking hard questions, digging deeper beyond the talking points and propaganda, even when their work is dangerous. I urge everyone to watch Words of War and support press freedom, not just as a political principle, but as a personal responsibility. Defend the truth-tellers. Share their work. Push back against efforts to delegitimise them. The UN's World Press Freedom Day takes place on 3 May, and anyone can show their support for this principle by donating to organisations such as the National Press Club Freedom Centre and the Committee to Protect Journalists. Remember: the next time you see a headline in the news that exposes corruption, injustice or extremism, someone may have risked their life to bring that information to you. Maxine Peake is an actor Words of War will be released on 3 May
