| Mr. Nobody Against Putin | |
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 Sundance release poster | |
| Directed by |
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| Written by | David Borenstein |
| Produced by |
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| Cinematography | Pavel Talankin |
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| Languages | Russian English |
Mr. Nobody Against Putin is a 2025 documentary film directed by David Borenstein. It premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award.
 | This section needs expansionwith: did Talankin remain in Russia and face disapprobation, or emigrate, or what. You can help by adding to it. (July 2025) |
Mr. Nobody Against Putin was shot over a period of two years by Pavel "Pasha" Talankin, the videographer and events coordinator at Karabash Primary School #1. [2] Talankin began seriously documenting his activities after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, when the government began requiring schools to hold regular "patriotic displays" and use a state-written curriculum to justify the invasion to students. [2] At the same time, the government instituted a requirement to upload footage of these displays to a state-run portal to prove compliance, allowing Talankin cover to film meetings, lessons, and visitors to the school without attracting suspicion. [3] Talankin initially planned to resign in order to avoid supporting the Russian government, however, after getting in contact with the documentary's producer he withdrew his resignation to keep gathering footage. [3]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 100% of 18 critics' reviews are positive. [4] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 79 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. [5]
IndieWire published a positive review, giving the film a grade of "A-" and praising the documentary for its undercover footage of life inside Russia. [2] The Guardian was similarly positive and praised Talankin for his bravery in capturing footage. [6] The Daily Beast and Variety also published positive reviews. [3] [7] The A.V. Club was more critical, noting that the film's focus on a single school made it feel limited in scope and that several narrative threads were dropped as the film continued. [8]
The film received the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. [9]