‘Words of War’ film screening and discussion set May 10

Rehoboth Beach Film Society will present a special event and screening of the biographical drama, “Words of War,” at 3 p.m., Saturday, May 10, at the Cinema Art Theater near Lewes.

Following the screening will be a question-and-answer session with Mark Maxey, lead producer.

World-renowned journalist and human rights activist Anna Politkovskaya went from being a local print journalist to braving the Chechen killing fields and exposing Russian state corruption under Vladimir Putin. She refused to give up reporting on the war in Chechnya despite numerous acts of intimidation and violence, including being poisoned. She was ultimately murdered, and it remains unclear who paid for the contract killing.

“Journalists are as essential to all our freedoms as air,” said Sean Penn, executive producer. “’Words of War’ is a tribute to Anna Politkovskaya and journalists around the world, whose fearless reporting of savage wars and unvarnished criticism of savage leaders are essential to all our freedoms. This film succeeds beautifully as cinema, and its drama will entertain you while equally serving as a meditation on the ways we can regroup our sense of our own place, of what our voices must do.”

A portion of the film’s proceeds are being donated to the Committee to Protect Journalists, the National Press Club Freedom Center and the International Women’s Media Foundation, which honored Politkovskaya in 2001 with its Courage in Journalism Award, five years before she was murdered for being a journalist.

Learn more at rehobothfilm.com.