Swedish Film Institute backs new feature about Politskovskaya's assassination

The Oct 7, 2006, assassination of Russian journalist and human rights activist Anna Politskovskaya in her apartment block in central Moscow will be explored in Russian documentary filmmaker Marina Goldovskaya’s fictional feature debut, A Bitter Taste of Freedom, to be made with Swedish director Malcolm Dixelius and produced by Sweden’s Dixit International.

Goldovskaya wants to paint a complex and intimate portrait of a women fearless in the face of destiny, who often put her life at risk. The investigative reporter for Novaja Gazeta, who was murdered on Putin’s birthday, was a strong critic of his regime and his handling of the Chechen conflict. ”The drama continues with family and friends living in her shadow, and with her suspected killers who have not yet been sentenced,” she explained.

A Bitter Taste of Freedom will be supported by the Swedish Film Institute, which today announced this year’s first batch of production funding, totalling $0.9 million (SEK 5.7 million), backing three features and five shorts.

For Swedish producer Stina Gardell’s Mantaray Film, Swedish cinematographer-turned-director Ewa Cederstam will helm No One Dares Remember (Ingan vågar minnas) from her own original screenplay about living with the memories and getting on in life after a brutal rape which took place 25 years ago.

Swedish director Frederikke Aspöck will have her feature debut with Daniel Dencik’s drama, Labrador, which Hans Lönnerheden and Thomas Heinesen will produce for Greta Film in collaboration with Nordisk Film. Story follows the conflict between a young couple, Stella and Oscar, when visiting her father living alone on an island with his dog.