HBO buys Pussy Riot documentary

North American audiences may soon get a glimpse into Russian feminist punk collective Pussy Riot and the group’s trouble with the law. HBO Documentary Films purchased the U.S. television rights to Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer after its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 18, reports Rolling Stone.

The 2013 documentary film by Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin chronicles the February 21, 2012, arrest of Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina, and Yekaterina Samutsevich following a satirical performance at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savoir asking God to get rid of Russian president Vladimir Putin.

During their trial, the members of Pussy Riot received a considerable amount of support from musicians and artists, including Yoko Ono, Sting, Stephen Fry, and Madonna. However, Tolokonnikova, Alyokhina, and Samutsevich were each sentenced to two years in a penal colony on August 17, 2012.