""Mr. Nobody Against Putin" is about how you lose your country, and what we saw when working with this footage is that you lose it through countless small, little acts of complicity. When we act complicit, when a government murders people on the streets of our major cities, when we don't say anything, when oligarchs take over media and control how we produce it."
"The film uses two years of footage shot by Talankin to show how the Russian government of President Vladimir Putin indoctrinates students with pro-war messages. At the request of Russia's Education Ministry, Talankin, 35, helped film pro-war propaganda efforts at the elementary school in Karabash. But ministry officials did not suspect he would turn his videos into a documentary about Russia's "patriotic education" campaign for schoolchildren."
"Talankin fled Russia in the summer of 2024 with the hard drives containing what would become the documentary feature. Talankin met Borenstein online, and filmed for two years while Borenstein directed remotely from Europe. The film won a BAFTA award in London in February for best documentary."
"Mr. Nobody Against Putin" follows Pavel Talankin, a 35-year-old Russian schoolteacher in Karabash, documenting how the government indoctrinates students with pro-war messages. Initially hired by Russia's Education Ministry to film patriotic education efforts, Talankin secretly converted his footage into a documentary exposing the propaganda campaign. The film, directed by David Borenstein, chronicles Talankin's persecution and eventual exile in 2024. Director Borenstein emphasized the film's theme about losing one's country through complicity and inaction. The documentary won a BAFTA award in February before securing the Oscar, with Talankin expressing disbelief at the film's success.
Read at RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
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