A Bitter Taste of Freedom

Description

Accolades
Best Documentary Montreal World Film Festival
Official Selection Boston Int’l Film Festival
Official Selection London Int’l Film Festival
Official Selection Jerusalem Int’l Film Festival
Official Selection IDFA Amsterdam

Synopsis

In 2006, after countless threats on her life and previous attempts to murder her, Anna Politkovskaya was shot to death in the elevator in her apartment. Many believed it to be the work of Vladimir Putin’s government. Bitter Taste of Freedom isn’t just about Anna Politkovskaya; it is a commentary on the tragedy of a whole nation under a repressive regime. Thanks to the unique footage shot by Marina Goldovskaya over the decades following the break-up of the USSR, we revisit, together with the heroine, the most tragic moments of contemporary Russian history: the Chechen war — the terrorist acts in the Dubrovka Theater — and the No. 1 School in Beslan. In exclusive, intimate conversations, Anna gives voice to refugees from Chechnya and other victims of human rights abuse. This film is the authentic record of the events that lead to Anna Politkovskaya’s brave stand as a journalist, and ultimately, to her brutal and precipitous death. The film is not an investigation of this murder. It is a classic drama where we know the tragic end, but are spell-bound by the heroine as she argues why she cannot steer away from her dangerous, chosen path, finally ended by an assassin’s bullet on Oct 7 2006.

Director

Marina Goldovskaya is one of Russia’s best-known documentary filmmakers with a strong international reputation. She has made 33 documentary films. During her long career as Director, Producer, Cinematographer and Writer, she has won numerous awards in the area of documentary filmmaking. Marina was the first Russian filmmaker to introduce a personal diary style in the documentary genre to describe the social changes in Russia. Using this technique, she has chronicled the period after the break-up of the Soviet Union in a dozen films. A Bitter Taste of Freedomis the culmination of this series.