There are plans in Hollywood to shoot a feature film titled Shoot the Breeze about investigation into the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya. The director of the film Raza Mallal admitted to the reporters that the producers have already managed to find serious funding for the film production, thus, the work will begin already in spring. However, the budget of the film has not yet been made known to public.
It is expected that British actor Donald Sutherland will play one of the main roles in the film and actress Gia Skova will act the part of the close friend of Politkovskaya.
According to the plot, famous Russian journalists in Moscow decided to conduct their own investigation into the murder of their colleague. They link the murder of Politkovskaya directly with her professional activity, including criticism of the war in Chechnya, and promise as a result of the investigation to name not only the actual murderers, but also those who ordered it.
It is not the first attempt to make a film about Politkovskaya. Documentary by Marina Goldovskaya A Bitter Taste of Freedom was released in 2011.
“No laws, except human morality, can possibly restrict or prevent making films on tragic topics. It is an inner response to the temptation to become famous and make money. If to approach the film reasonably there should not be anything bad in raising the topic of killing journalists in cinematography,” Ukrainian filmmaker Mykhailo ILLIENKO told The Day. “Film directors and screenwriters create projects based on personal attitude to event and the worldview of the artist. It is very important that while working on the film about the killing of Politkovskaya the authors would feel the tragedy and the complexity of the situation. To do so, they should visit Moscow, learn more about this case in the press – in short, they should try to deeply understand the situation. Despite the fact that it will be a feature film, I will stress that it is important to approach the material to be presented in it very carefully. Unfortunately, in modern world ethical standards are very often violated both in films and on TV. For example, when you watch the news about the murder of Heorhii Gongadze, you realize that people who work on TV made a theatrical performance around this tragedy. What concerns the film about Politkovskaya, I think that Ukraine could initiate production of a feature film about Heorhii Gongadze. I am convinced that we would be able to find competent screenwriters and film directors who would cover this topic adequately. But the situation in cinematography is very difficult; we do not have a base where we would be able to combine different topics. Thus, we will probably have to wait for a long time before a film about Gongadze will be made.”
