Mr Nobody Against Putin
Mr Nobody Against Putin is a 2025 documentary film directed by David Borenstein and Pavel Talankin. It follows Talankin in his job at a school in Karabash, a poor mining town near the Ural Mountains. While recording his students, Talankin also documents the Putin administration movements to control public perception during the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war.
The film had its world premiere at the World Cinema Documentary section of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival on 25 January, where it won the Special Jury Award. It was selected as the Danish entry for Academy Award for [Best International Feature Film|Best International Feature Film] at the 98th Academy Awards, but it was not shortlisted for a nomination. However, it was nominated in the Academy Award for [Best Documentary Feature Film|Best Documentary Feature Film] category.
Background
Mr Nobody Against Putin was shot over a period of two years by Pavel "Pasha" Talankin, the videographer and events coordinator at Karabash Primary School #1. Talankin began seriously documenting his activities after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, when the government began requiring schools to hold regular "patriotic displays" and use a state-written curriculum to justify the invasion to students. At the same time, the government instituted a requirement to upload footage of these displays to a state-run portal to prove compliance, allowing Talankin cover to film meetings, lessons, and visitors to the school without attracting suspicion. He initially planned to resign in order to avoid supporting the Russian government, however, after getting in contact with director David Borenstein, he withdrew his resignation to keep gathering footage.Talankin secretly fled Russia during the summer of 2024, aided by his producers and Borenstein who worked to get him asylum in Europe, following evidence of police surveillance at his home shown during the film.