Letter to Anna (Ein Artikel zu viel)

0 votes and 0 Reviews

Documentary

Anna Politkovskaya was a Russian reporter who regularly wrote for Novaya Gazyeta, one of the country's few independent journals.

In a nation where political corruption is widespread and exposing the misdeeds of the nation's leaders often has dangerous consequences, Politkovskaya was a fearless voice whose stories demanded responsibility from Vladimir Putin and his colleagues while decrying Russia's actions in Chechnya, which she labeled as genocide.

While Politkovskaya writings earned her respect and made her one of the nation's best known journalists, they also angered many powerful people; she nearly died after she was poisoned in 2004 while covering the Beslan school hostage case, and in October 2006 she was shot and killed by an unknown gunman while riding an elevator in her apartment building; many of her friends and family believe she was assassinated by government agents.

Filmmaker Eric Bergkraut struck up a friendship with Politkovskaya while making his documentary Coca: The Dove From Chechnya, and Ein Artikel zu viel: Der Mord an Anna Politkowskaja (aka Letter To Anna: The Story Of Journalist Politkovskaya's Death features archival interviews with the late reporter, as well as contributions from colleagues and loved ones who discuss her work and offer their views on her suspicious passing.

Letter To Anna received its North American premiere at the 2008 Toronto Hot Docs Film Festival.