Pussy Riot documentary wins Sundance gong

Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer, a documentary on the feminist punk group, picked up a Special Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday. Directors Michael Lerner, whose film Afghan Star was nominated for an Oscar, and Russian filmmaker Maxim Pozdorovkin followed the three members of the band for six months, covering their arrest and trial. Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich were arrested for their 40-second “punk prayer” in a Moscow cathedral in February 2012. They were found guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred and sentenced to two years in jail, although Samutsevich was subsequently freed.