'Mr. Nobody Against Putin' wins BAFTA award for best documentary
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"Mr. Nobody Against Putin" won for best documentary at the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) on Feb. 22.
The documentary draws on footage filmed by Pavel Talankin, a videographer at a school in the industrial town of Karabash, to chronicle how Russia has transformed its schools into indoctrination and military recruitment centers since the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine.
"When a treason law threatened (Talankin) with imprisonment, he kept filming. When a police car started monitoring him outside his house, he kept filming. And when he had to sacrifice his entire life in Russia to smuggle out this footage, he didn't hesitate," praised David Borenstein, the co-director of the documentary, while accepting the award.
"We always face a moral choice. No matter who we are, there is power in our actions."
The documentary has received wide acclaim for the fact that it shows how the war against Ukraine is not just "(Russian President Vladimir) Putin's war" but a war sustained by both a climate of fear and open support among the populace within Russia.
"Mr. Nobody Against Putin" has also been nominated for best documentary at the Academy Awards, scheduled to take place on March 16.
Also among the nominees for best documentary at the BAFTA Awards was Ukrainian filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov’s "2000 Meters to Andriivka," which depicts a battle from the 2023 counteroffensive partly using Ukrainian soldiers' helmet-camera footage.
