Mr Nobody against Putin on Arte: a stunning documentary (review)
A Russian teacher denounces Kremlin propaganda imposed in Russian schools after the invasion of Ukraine.
After its theatrical release, Mr Nobody against Putin is broadcast this Tuesday, January 20 on Arte, and already available on Arte.TV and YouTube (video at the end of the article). A shocking film, awarded at Sundance and in the Oscar shortlist for the best documentary category, a must-see. Our review:
It is a document as much as a documentary. An extremely rare testimony because it requires taking insane risks. Those taken in his soul and conscience by Mr Nobody who gives his title to this documentary: Pavel Talankin, teacher, videographer and coordinator of school events in the small Russian town of Karabash.
This Mr Nobody against Putin is his wartime logbook, the one Russia declared to Ukraine with its full-scale invasion. With his camera, Talankin shows head-on the propaganda that has since swept through his school and the danger of refusing to comply with it.
There is something astonishing about what we see on screen, reinforced by the tone full of humor and self-deprecation (starting with its presentation of Karabash as the city recognized… as the most toxic in the world, with supporting evidence).
Such a film is obviously not judged by its cinematographic quality but by that of the trace it leaves once the word “end” appears on the screen. It’s huge. At the height of the courage of a man who chose to speak when everything pushes you to silence, starting with your survival instinct.
