On Saturday, March 28, Nicolas Herbeaux welcomes a special guest: Pavel Talankin, a Russian educator and filmmaker who recently received the Oscar for Best Documentary for his film “Mister Nobody Against Putin,” in which he is the main protagonist and was made in collaboration with American filmmaker David Borenstein.
“In my view, the essential thing was to show the indoctrination in the work carried out in Russian schools,” stated Pavel Talankin.
As Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Russian schools became tools for ideological indoctrination. Pavel Talankin, then a coordinator of events at a school in Karabash, a town of 10,000 inhabitants in Russia, was instructed by the Ministry of Education to film the patriotic classes given to the students.
“When I realized that what I was filming should not remain solely in the hands of the Ministry of Education, but that everyone should see it. Because it answers a decisive question: What kind of Russian society are we preparing for the next ten or fifteen years? What kind of generation are we shaping today?” said Pavel Talankin.
To counter the surveillance orchestrated by the Russian regime, Pavel Talankin partnered with American filmmaker David Borenstein to document the reality of these practices from within. Their work led to the award-winning documentary “Mr. Nobody Against Putin,” serving not just as a historical testimony but as an act of resistance aimed at breaking the isolation felt by remaining dissenters in Russia.
Upon receiving the Oscar for Best Documentary at the famous American ceremony, Pavel Talankin, described as a whistleblower by his counterpart David Borenstein, is now considered a political opponent of Vladimir Putin.
Released in January 2025, the documentary is still available in movie theaters and on the Arte.tv platform.
