Channel 4 is to broadcast a film documenting the life of the late journalist Lyra McKee on Saturday, ahead of the fifth anniversary of her death.
Lyra McKee, a 29-year-old investigative journalist and author, was shot dead as she observed a riot in the Creggan area of Derry city on April 18 2019, aged 29.
The film, titled Lyra, has been made by Bafta-award-winning documentarian and close friend Alison Millar who salvaged voice recordings from Lyra's Dictaphone so she could narrate her own story.
Read more: Lyra McKee’s partner condemns recent violence in Northern Ireland
The film will see Lyra growing up in 90s Belfast, using text messages and home video footage as well as intimate access to her mother, sister and partner to capture their grief and quest for justice in the days and months following Lyra's death.
Through the archive of recordings, field notes and interviews with those who knew her, 'Lyra' tells the story of a life fearlessly committed to truth and justice for forgotten crimes.
The result is a complex picture of Northern Ireland’s political history, bringing into sharp focus the ways in which the 1998 Good Friday Agreement – with its promised end to violence for future generations – has struggled to be fully realised.
The documentary film has already had screenings in Derry and Belfast since its release at the end of last year.
Siobhan Sinnerton, executive producer for HiddenLight and previously commissioning editor for Channel 4, said Lyra's work and stories "tell us about why peace in Northern Ireland matters to us all". She said: "As a Belfast native, I have always been cautious about making films about ' The Troubles '.
"But when brilliant Northern Irish director Ali Millar decided that she wanted to make a film about the life and loss of her friend and mentee Lyra McKee I knew it was going to be very special. And it is."
The film is due to air on Channel Four on Saturday, April 15 at 9.25pm.
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