''Words of War'' is an upcoming

biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

about the late Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya. Directed by James Strong, it is set to star Maxine Peake as Politkovskaya, Jason Isaacs as her husband Sascha, and Ciarán Hinds as her Nobel Peace Prize-winning editor at the ''

Novaya Gazeta ''Novaya Gazeta'' ( rus, Новая газета, t=New Gazette, p=ˈnovəjə ɡɐˈzʲetə) is an independent Russian newspaper known for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs. It is published in Mo ...

'', Dmitry Muratov.

Synopsis

Anna Politkovskaya was a journalist and human rights activist who persisted with reporting on the conflict in

Chechnya Chechnya ( rus, Чечня́, Chechnyá, p=tɕɪtɕˈnʲa; ce, Нохчийчоь, Noxçiyçö), officially the Chechen Republic,; ce, Нохчийн Республика, Noxçiyn Respublika is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the ...

despite considerable danger to herself, and tried to expose corruption within Russia under the governance of Vladimir Putin. She continued in the face of poisoning, intimidation and violence before being the victim of a contract killing in the elevator of her house on October 7, 2006.

Cast

* Maxine Peake as Anna Politkovskaya * Ciarán Hinds as Dmitry Muratov * Jason Isaacs as Alexander Politkovsky *

Naomi Battrick Naomi Faye Battrick (born 11 April 1991) is an English actress. Career She was born in Kettering Northamptonshire and her first television appearance was in a guest role on ''The Bill'' as Miranda Roscoe, following which she won the part of 15- ...

as Vera Politkovskaya *

Harry Lawtey Harry James C. Lawtey (born 1996) is an English actor. He is known for his role as Robert Spearing in the BBC Two and HBO series ''Industry'' (2020–present). Early life Lawtey was born in Oxford to Northern parents while his father, an aircr ...

as Ilya Politkovsky * Ellie Bamber as Elena *

Fady Elsayed Fady Elsayed (born 15 September 1993) is a British-Egyptian actor, best known for his role as Ram Singh in the BBC's '' Doctor Who'' spin-off '' Class''. Early life Elsayed was born in 15 September 1993 at St Mary's Hospital in London, Elsayed ...

as Anzor

Production

The project was announced as ''Mother Russia'' at the

2022 Cannes Film Festival The 75th annual Cannes Film Festival is an upcoming film festival scheduled to take place from 17 to 28 May 2022. The festival will see a tribute to actor Tom Cruise, whose film '' Top Gun: Maverick'' is due to premiere at the festival. The off ...

with Maxine Peake, Jason Isaacs, and Ciarán Hinds attached to the main roles. The film had James Strong attached as director, working from a screenplay by Eric Poppen, and was announced to be made by the production company Luminosity, with filming scheduled for UK and Latvia in 2022. Producers were listed as Dean Altit, David Banks, Paul Brennan, Kia Jam, and Miriam Segall, with co-production from Forma Pro Films at their Latvian studios, K. Jam Media, and BuzzFeed Studios, with a reported budget of $13 million. In February 2023, the family of Anna Politkovskaya released a joint statement expressing concern about the factual accuracy of the script they had been given at the start of production, that they had not contributed in any way, nor had they granted permission for their names to be used in the film. In May 2024, the title of the film was confirmed as ''Words of War'’.

Casting

In September 2022,

Emma D'Arcy Emma Zia D'Arcy (born 27 June 1992) is an English actor. They are known for their roles in the BBC drama ''Wanderlust'' (2018), the Amazon Prime series ''Truth Seekers'' (2020), and the HBO fantasy series ''House of the Dragon'' (2022–), t ...

and Ellie Bamber were added to the cast, with the project title being changed from ''Mother Russia'' to ''Anna''. Lawtey confirmed his role as Anna Politkovskaya's son and discussed the film within a geo-political context saying "The film has been planned for years and obviously now it has unfortunately become too relevant... Being part of a project that feels current and meaningful is a privilege." D'Arcy was replaced by

due to scheduling issues.

Principal photography

Selling rights to the film became held by Film Bridge International from Luminosity in late 2022. Principal photography was revealed by Deadline Hollywood to have commenced in Latvia in December 2022, with filming scheduled to last into February 2023.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 8679660 2020s British films 2020s English-language films Upcoming films British biographical drama films 2020s biographical drama films Films about journalists Films set in Russia Films about murder Films about assassinations English-language biographical drama films