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Maxine Peake is to star as Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya in a biopic called Mother Russia.
Deadline reports that the film will be directed by Broadchurch and Vigil's James Strong. Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter) will co-star as Sacha Politkovskaya, Anna's husband, while recent Oscar nominee Ciarán Hinds (Belfast) will portray her newspaper editor Dmitry Muratov.
Peake is known for playing strong-willed and interesting characters like criminal barrister Martha Costello in the BBC legal drama series Silk. Anna Politkovskaya certainly fits this mold. An award-winning journalist and human rights activist, she courageously reported on the Second Chechen War from 1999 to 2005 despite being subjected to intimidation, violence, and even poisoning. During this period she earned international acclaim for bravely and consistently calling Vladimir Putin's regime to account.
On October 7, 2006, she was found murdered in the elevator of her apartment block in Moscow. Though five men have since been jailed for her murder, the instigator of her contract killing remains unknown. 
Producer Miriam Segal said of the movie: "Three years ago, when we started developing this screenplay about this quite extraordinary woman, never did we imagine how prescient it would become."
Are you looking forward to seeing Maxine Peake as Anna Politkovskaya?