Finley Cowan ‘30
News Writer
On Tuesday, Oct. 27, the BAFTA-winning film “Mr. Nobody Against Putin” was screened in the Rehm Library along with a Q&A with Pavel “Pasha” Talankin, the co-director and photographer. Talankin is a former school photographer from Karabash, a small Russian town east of Moscow.
The film starts out right before the Russia-Ukraine war with a depiction of the standard Russian school, then demonstrates how the war severely altered the morale, relationships, and academic performance of both students and administrators.
On Feb. 22, 2022, the war had officially started, and propaganda almost immediately infiltrated schools all across the country. It started with the “New Federal Patriotic Policy,” which required that children recite songs, poems, and speeches about Russian victory. Patriotic morning drills and lessons began to take place daily. The rhetoric expressed in these teachings claims that Russia must beat Ukraine for the sake of Europe, and if you disagree, you should just leave the country. If you don’t love your president, you don’t love your motherland.
Through all of this, Talankin was instructed to videotape it to provide evidence of the school’s compliance. During filming, he documented firsthand the effects that the policy had on both teachers and students. While students navigated schoolwork and learned new political chants and rhetoric, teachers became increasingly exhausted with the constantly changing material and intense preparation. Eventually, Talankin found himself feeling the same fatigue and decided to take a stand. From that point onward, his footage was transformed from evidence of conformity to a statement of rebellion against the Russian regime.
As Talankin continued documenting the growing presence of propaganda in Russian schools, he struggled with the conflict between his responsibilities as an educator and the government’s expectations. Originally hired to photograph and film school activities, he was instructed to record the school’s compliance with the new patriotic policies. However, he increasingly opposed the use of education to promote the war. Reflecting on his position, Talankin explained, “I love my job, but I don’t want to be a pawn in their regime.” His growing frustration ultimately led him to secretly use his footage to document the effects of propaganda on students and teachers, transforming his role from a school photographer into a filmmaker exposing the government’s influence on education.
As the months progressed, school conditions became more intense, with an increased amount of the school day spent on required marches, propaganda seminars, and demonstrations given by military personnel. During these demonstrations, students dressed up in military attire, were taught how to avoid enemy attacks, and even learned to use guns by firing at fake targets. The film portrayed the purpose of these activities as training children in military conformity. Additionally, practiced marching each morning and learned commands typically given by a military leader. All of this diminished the average academic performance by 7%, causing many to fail because of the lack of time left for actual schooling. However, this held little value to students because more awards were given out to children who demonstrated the most patriotism or marched with the most precision rather than those who received higher test scores.
Until the midpoint of the film, everything takes place in school. That changed when students of draft age and siblings of students started to get drafted, leaving tremendous wounds in the community. Morale started to decrease as people worried for their loved ones and felt trapped in the system. The chances of soldiers coming home became slimmer and brought towns into despair. Nevertheless, Talankin never stopped videotaping and gathered significant evidence of the Kremlin’s actions. By the end, he fled Russia with seven hard drives of footage that were used to create his award-winning documentary.
In the Q&A, Talankin discussed the importance of good-natured patriotism as well as challenging the justifications of war. In his view, patriotism should be about the country, not the administration. Pride rooted in the nation instead of the president would give strength back to the people rather than the government. Additionally, Talankin suggested that raising children with love actively counteracts war propaganda because it prepares them to help others instead of fight. All of these factors could make a huge difference for the anti-war cause.
Copy edited by Joshua Rosenberg Nov 3 2026
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