In Karabash, the most polluted Russian city, schoolchildren march to the national anthem every morning. They attend classes about the “special operation” in Ukraine and take part in grenade throwing competitions; all while their teacher films them for the state.
That’s the world captured in Mr. Nobody Against Putin, a Danish-Czech documentary filmed by schoolteacher, Pasha Talankin, who shows how propaganda seeps into childhood.
“I love my job, but I don’t want to be the pawn of the regime,” he says, explaining his decision to document the new school routine despite the risks to his safety.
Pasha, an event manager and the school’s cinematographer records everything around him: kids marching and playing with replica guns, military parades projected onto library windows, and his former students joining the army; some willingly, others not.
The new mandatory “political education” lessons come with state-issued manuals explaining why Russia attacked Ukraine, claiming Europe is starving without Russian gas and arguing that Ukraine doesn’t exist. Students at the school met members of the Wagner Group, the private military company known for war crimes around the world.
“My sister is in the first grade and she already recites poems about the war. Children don’t have to know about it, they can’t understand it,” one of Pasha’s former students said.
As the film unfolds, the war becomes harder for people in Karabash to ignore. More brothers and fathers are mobilized and killed, yet, Pasha says few question why they’re being sent to Ukraine, himself included.
“I could only dream of their [protesters’] courage, but I don’t have it, just like everyone else in this city, it seems,” he said in the documentary.
At the end of the school year, Pasha decides to leave, having filmed enough and fearing for his safety. With the help of a Czech production company, he escapes Russia and settles in Czechia. Mr. Nobody Against Putin has already received international recognition, winning multiple awards and earning a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes. The film is currently screening in cinemas around Prague, with English subtitles available.
