Truth-telling can be dangerous business. All around the world, reporters put themselves at risk to expose injustices and atrocities. The organization to support them, The Committee to Protect Journalists, co-sponsored Thursday night's screening of Eric Bergkraut's "Letter to Anna," about the 2006 assassination of Russian journalist, Anna Politkovskaya.

This sold-out film at the Walter Reade could be a companion to "Poisoned by Polonium: The Litvinenko File," released earlier this year. Andrei Nekrasov, the director of "Poisoned," appears in "Letter" to express his infatuation and admiration for the fearless, determined human rights activist known for her opposition to the Chechen conflict.

Like Macky Alston's "Family Name" (1997) and what I've heard about Godfrey Cheshire's "Moving Midway" (2007), Katrina Browne's "Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North" investigates the filmmaker's family history of slavery.

After the Sunday night screening, audience members had much fuel for discussion-- the film's conclusion and the involvement of the Episcopal Church, Ivy League elitism, and the merits of slavery reparations.

On Tuesday, June 24, Browne's film will kick off the season for P.O.V. on PBS.