Some parents said they'd break my knees': the teacher who exposed Putin's primary school propaganda

"His footage shows his colleagues grappling with the rollout of a new government-mandated, patriotic education programme designed to mould primary schoolchildren into Putin enthusiasts and supporters of the war against Ukraine. The documentary reveals Russia's potent propaganda machine in action. Putin's government is doing everything it can to create a generation loyal to his politics."

"Talankin, whose role at the school was to coordinate and film school events and extracurricular activities, spent two-and-a-half years documenting the mass indoctrination drive. Footage of the classes had to be uploaded regularly to a government website as evidence that staff were fulfilling the education ministry's required quota of patriotic teaching."

"I hope it will help these children in the future to understand that they were the victims of all this, Talankin says. This film is primarily aimed at Russians, showing them what is happening inside their schools now."

Pavel Talankin, a teacher at Karabash School No. 1 in Russia, spent two-and-a-half years covertly filming a documentary exposing the government's mandatory patriotic education program designed to indoctrinate primary schoolchildren into Putin supporters. The film, "Mr Nobody Against Putin," won the Bafta for best documentary and a Sundance prize, yet Russian state media has completely ignored these achievements. Talankin risked significant personal danger by secretly sending footage to US director David Borenstein for editing while simultaneously uploading required evidence to government websites. The documentary reveals Russia's propaganda machinery in action, showing how the Kremlin systematically creates generational loyalty to its political agenda and war policies. Students at the school have accessed the film only through bootlegged copies on personal devices.

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