Mr. Nobody vs Putin: The Danish-backed documentary taking on Russian propaganda

He called himself "Mr. Nobody." Just an ordinary school teacher from one of the world's most polluted mining towns, deep in Russia's Ural Mountains. But when the war in Ukraine broke out and the Kremlin began turning classrooms into recruitment centres, Pavel Talankin stopped being ordinary. With a hidden camera, he started filming what no one was supposed to see: how children are taught to hate, and how teachers are forced to lie. The result is the documentary Mr. Nobody vs Putin, produced by Denmark's Helle Faber and directed by Copenhagen-based American David Borenstein.

A teacher's secret double life

Pasha, as he's known, was really just the school's go-to video guy. He filmed Christmas concerts, graduation parties and school events. But after February 24, 2022, his job changed radically. The school was forced to send documentation to the Education Ministry to prove they were toeing the new, patriotic line. "I became a kind of supervisor of the teachers," Pasha has said. "They knew I was filming, so they said exactly what the government demanded."

But Pasha didn't just send the footage to Moscow. Via encrypted servers, he began forwarding it to David Borenstein in Copenhagen. For two and a half years, he lived a double life: by day a loyal public servant, by night a whistleblower facing up to 15 years in prison. In the summer of 2024, he had to flee with seven hard drives hidden in his luggage, leaving his mother and siblings behind in Karabash.

From Sundance to the Oscars race

The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2025, where it won a Special Jury Award. Since then, it's been collecting accolades: the audience award at Ji.hlava, and most recently the BAFTA for Best Documentary. Now it's Oscar-nominated, and Pasha turned 35 just days before the LA gala – complete with pink balloons he bought himself.

This is Pasha's first time outside Russia. He doesn't speak English, but his dry, sarcastic humour transcends all language barriers. "I'm just curious how heavy that Oscar statuette actually is," he said deadpan when an international media outlet caught up with him on the Santa Monica Pier. "In every shop, they sell fake plastic versions that weigh nothing." (For the record, it's 3.86 kilos).

The impossible choice: stay or flee

What makes Mr. Nobody vs Putin so quietly powerful is precisely its everyday perspective. We don't see war up close, but we see its shadow fall over children. We see Wagner soldiers showing students how to throw grenades. We see the history teacher telling kids that Europeans will soon have to ride horses like musketeers because petrol's getting too expensive. And we hear an audio recording of a mother sobbing at her son's grave – Pasha didn't dare film the funeral, but he captured the sound.

David Borenstein, who edited it all together in Copenhagen, explains he deliberately avoided drowning viewers in darkness. "Pasha sent so much material, including about the nuclear threat (Karabash is near the Mayak nuclear facility). But we didn't want to overwhelm people with negativity. The film also had to show Pasha the person – his warmth, his care for his students, his silly stunts like taking down the Russian flag and blasting Lady Gaga's version of the American national anthem through the speakers."

"It's just normal"

Asked whether he's brave, Pasha shakes his head. "No, it's just normal." But the reality is different. His colleagues were banned from contacting him. His mother, who works in the school library, is heartbroken. To pro-war Russians, he's become a hated figure. Yet he regrets nothing. "I'd do it all over again."

Right now, the film feels uncomfortably timely. As a joke circulating in Eastern Europe goes: Belarusians and Russians are watching the same TV series – only Russia is a few episodes behind. Pasha himself told an international outlet: "I'm sad to say it, but America's started watching that series now, too."

What the documentary teaches us

For us in Australia, where the film is streaming on SBS On Demand, the story is also a reminder of what happens when power gets to redefine reality. As Borenstein puts it: "We were really scared during production. Not for ourselves, but for Pasha. We read about teachers getting long prison sentences just for 'desecrating' the Russian flag. Pasha was the only one who wasn't scared."

During our meeting in Los Angeles, Pasha got some heartbreaking news. One of his former students, 19-year-old Nikita, had been killed at the front. "I know him. He was a nice bloke. He never would have gone without the propaganda," Pasha said quietly.

Awards and recognition

Mr. Nobody vs Putin isn't just a film about Russia. It's a film about how ordinary people get drawn into the war machine – or choose to resist. It shows that no one is born a soldier. You're made into one. In one of the film's final scenes, an 11-year-old boy sits with a rifle in his hands. At first, he's holding it wrong. Then he adjusts his grip, aims at the camera – at Pasha – and this time his aim is true, right between the eyes. The film cuts to a bombed-out Ukrainian landscape. Two sides of the same story.

The film has already been called "a unicorn in the war documentary genre." It won the BAFTA in February and is nominated for an Oscar. If it wins, the acceptance speech will be written by Pasha's former students. They're already working on it, he says.

• Directors: David Borenstein (DK/US) and Pavel Talankin
• Producer: Helle Faber (Denmark)
• Awards: BAFTA (Best Documentary 2026), Sundance Special Jury Award (2025), Ji.hlava Audience Award (2025)
• Runtime: 90 minutes
• Australian TV: SBS On Demand

In a few days, we'll know if Mr. Nobody becomes Mr. Oscar. But whatever the outcome, Pasha has already won the most important battle: the fight against indifference. Because as his producer in the film says, as he crosses the border: "Just believe in yourself. What you've done will make a difference."