Pavel "Pasha" Talankin was a teacher and school cameraman in Karabash, a small town in the Urals. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, his work changed: as a cameraman, he was tasked with documenting propaganda-oriented lessons, school assemblies, meetings with participants of the so-called special military operation, and activities aimed at recruiting students into military service. One day, Talankin decided to begin secretly collecting the footage and smuggling it abroad so that a film could be made from it. In doing so, he made available material documenting how a Russian school functioned under the conditions of war and propaganda.
The film "Mr Nobody Against Putin" portrays a provincial Russian school that is gradually subordinated to state policy and drawn into the cult of war. Its central theme is the impact of these processes on children. The protagonist's core moral dilemma lies in the choice between continuing to carry out the tasks imposed on him and taking the risk of documenting and exposing what he witnesses. The film thus raises the question of individual responsibility and the limits of obedience to the system.
The film attracted wide international attention. It began its festival run with the Special Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2025, was screened at numerous festivals, and received a series of awards, including the British BAFTA for Best Documentary; and in March 2026 its creators were awarded the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.
Two meetings will take place:
18 June 2026 at the Faculty of Modern Languages and Literatures, for university staff and students: a presentation, a conversation with Pavel Talankin, and an opportunity to ask questions (hosted by Nadzieja Smagina, MA, and Krzysztof Tyczko, PhD).
19 June 2026: a screening of the film and a conversation with Pavel Talankin (hosted by Nadzieja Smagina, MA, and Krzysztof Tyczko, PhD), link: https://kinopalacowe.pl/filmy/13982-pan-nikt-kontra-putin/, https://fb.watch/Hu49j4MjXV/
The meetings will be held in Polish and Russian, with translation into Polish. During the meetings with Pavel Talankin, we will talk, among other things, about the situation in present-day Russia, the Russian education system, the militarisation of younger generations, and the prospects for Russia and Europe given such a state approach to young people.