Reel Rundown: ‘Mr. Nobody Against Putin’ discusses differences in patriotism, treason
Karabash, Russia, is a desolate place – a fitting description for this city of 10,000 residents set in the Ural Mountains. After all, it has been described as one of the most polluted places on Earth.
Karabash is the setting of the Oscar-nominated documentary feature “Mr. Nobody Against Putin.” And early on, the two directors – David Borenstein and Pavel “Pasha” Talankin – show us the dark mountain that looms over the city. That darkness, they tell us, is a result of the toxicity caused by the city’s main industry: its copper smelting plant.
That poisonous atmosphere is symbolic of the attitudes that have swept the whole of Russia over the past several years. Yet if there’s one primary feeling about his native city that co-director Talankin ends up sharing with us, it’s love.
Born and raised in Karabash, Talankin works at the same primary school he himself attended. As the school’s events coordinator, he also serves as the official videographer, documenting student and academic life.
And he’s happy to do so. That is, he was until Feb. 22, 2022, when he says his “job changed drastically.” Although that date might not mean much to American audiences, it should to anyone living in Russia: It marks the day that the country’s president, Vladimir Putin, sent troops into Ukraine in what he termed a “special military operation.”
We watch as Putin’s government buoys support for the invasion and subsequent war by implementing new policies. Schools such as Talankin’s are required to teach history in a way that justifies the war. Any dissension is viewed as treason and made punishable by imprisonment – or even death.
From that point on, Talankin is forced to be little more than a propagandist, videotaping the students as they sing anthems to the Russian flag, practice marching in lockstep through the school’s hallways and reading “sculpted lessons” to prove the school is following the policies.
Some of Talankin’s colleagues embrace the changes. One in particular is shown delivering a lecture that claims so many lies about life in Europe that it sounds like something out of Orwell’s novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four.”
Talankin, though, refuses to play along. He proudly displays a flag in his office that is a symbol for resistance to the war. When school officials decorate windows with the letter Z, which is a sign of pro-war loyalty, Talankin replaces them with an X.
“I love my job,” he says, serving as the documentary’s narrator, “but I don’t want to be a pawn of the regime.”
Much of what Borenstein and Talankin put on the screen focuses on Talankin, who uses his school duties as a way to film not just classroom activities but also the pro-war demonstrations that fill Karabash’s streets. The film also shows Talankin’s relationship with students, some of whom end up being conscripted and sent to fight in Ukraine.
When he answers an Instagram notice inquiring about life in Russia, Talankin ends up connecting with Borenstein, an American-born filmmaker living in Copenhagen. Soon Talankin’s filming takes on a larger purpose, with the ensuing footage – shot over a two-year period – becoming the documentary the two put together. Not only is it one of the 2026 Best Documentary Feature Oscar nominees but it’s also streaming on Apple TV.
Perhaps the most important message that “Mr. Nobody Against Putin” communicates is one that speaks to all those around the world who understand the difference between patriotism and treason.
As Talankin says, “Love for your country is not about raising a flag or singing an anthem. It’s about being willing to say, ‘We have a problem.’ ”