Mr. Nobody Against Putin

Co-director: Pavel Talankin & David Borenstein / Denmark & Czech Republic / 2025 / 90 min

Pasha is an ordinary schoolteacher in a small Russian village. He works at the same school he attended as a child and has dedicated himself completely to teaching. The students love him for being creative, mischievous, progressive and not as rigid as his colleagues. But when Russia invades Ukraine, Pasha loses control of the school timetable. Putin orders a new direction for the school system. Overnight, primary schools across Russia are transformed into recruitment zones. State ideology and militarisation are added to the curriculum, and critical, independent thinking disappears. Unable to come to terms with working in a propagandist system, Pasha goes undercover in his own workplace. Under the guise of his real role as the school’s videographer, he documents how propaganda and war affect life at the school. The result is an unflinching insight into a state-sanctioned, patriotic education policy. But when Pasha realises he is about to be exposed and his life may be in danger, he begins to plan his escape from Russia.