The Reel Review
A Russian teacher secretly documents his small-town school’s transformation into a government propaganda and military recruitment center during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Pavel “Pasha” Talankin stars in this Oscar-nominated documentary.
This very meta film leans into the fact that Talankin’s footage, filmed in Karabash, one of Russia’s most polluted towns, ultimately will become this documentary. It is filled with such subversive moments as Talankin telling a classroom of schoolchildren that their teacher is being forced to spew government propaganda, hanging a drawing of a pro-democracy flag in his office, using a universal remote to secretly turn off a public video display of his footage of a pro-war rally in the town, and broadcasting Lady Gaga’s rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner” over the school PA system while knocking down the Russian flag on the school’s roof. It is a fascinating look at everyday life in a small Russian town and how effectively propaganda brainwashes and indoctrinates its residents, whom Talankin interviews.
Although the film’s pacing lags at times, the documentary regains momentum in its powerful third act, when Talankin shares stories of former students and colleagues killed in the Russo-Ukraine War as the Wagner Group mercenaries arrive at the school on a recruitment mission. Mr. Nobody Against Putin is an important film illustrating that courage can happen in unsuspecting places.
REEL FACTS
• Pavel Talankin currently lives in an undisclosed European country, with hopes of returning to Russia after Putin’s regime ends.
• Mr. Nobody Against Putin was Denmark’s 2026 Oscar-submission in the Best International Feature Film category. It has been nominated for the 2026 Oscar for Best Documentary Feature Film and has won a BAFTA.
• American filmmaker David Borenstein says he was contacted by Talankin after Talankin got angry seeing an ad on the Russian internet seeking stories about businesses supporting the war.
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