Oscar-winning ‘Mr Nobody Against Putin’ banned in Russia
The documentary, Mr Nobody Against Putin, which recently won an Oscar, has been banned in Russia.
The film consists of footage collated by Pavel Talankin, who worked in Russia as an events coordinator at a school, and documents the rise in Russian propaganda at schools following the illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Talankin fled Russia after making the film.
Now, Mr Nobody Against Putin has been made unavailable to watch in Talankin’s home country and removed from three streaming platforms. It has been accused of being a film that “propagates extremism and terrorism” by prosecutors.
Per the BBC, which co-produced the film, Russian media reports that prosecutors argued that Mr Nobody Against Putin expresses “negative attitude towards the [war in Ukraine] and the current government”.
The deputy prosecutor also described a flag shown in the documentary, which is used by anti-war protestors in Russia, as one of a “terrorist organisation”.
The decision to ban the film comes after the Russian government criticised the documentary for allegedly capturing footage of students without the consent of their parents and planned to appeal to the Academy.
After it was awarded the Oscar for ‘Best Documentary Feature’, Talankin delivered an anti-war message in his acceptance speech, stating, “For four years we have looked at the sky for shooting stars to make a very important wish… But there are countries where, instead of shooting stars, bombs fall from the sky and drones fly.”
He pleaded, “For the sake of our future, and for the sake of all our children, let’s end all wars.”
In a four-and-a-half-star review, Far Out wrote of the film, “This documentary manages to tell what could be a grim and disturbing story with humour and optimism. It presents a clear and compelling picture of life in an authoritarian regime through the simple details of daily life, from the perspective of the residents of a small town in the Ural Mountains.”
In addition to its Oscar win, Mr Nobody Against Putin also won a Bafta in the same category.
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