The documentary film Mr. Nobody Against Putin, co-produced by Czech Television, has won the Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary. This internationally acclaimed film adds another major achievement to its success, having also received the British BAFTA Awards earlier this year.
Mr. Nobody Against Putin follows the story of Russian teacher Pavel “Pasha” Talankin from a small town, who finds himself under intense propagandistic pressure within the education system after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Once a creative and well-liked educator, he becomes an unwilling witness to a system that requires him to film propaganda materials for state institutions. Talankin ultimately decides to secretly preserve the footage and smuggle it out of Russia, providing testimony about how propaganda and war gradually transform everyday life and the education system in contemporary Russia.
The success of Mr. Nobody Against Putin highlights the strength of international collaboration and the importance of documentary filmmaking in addressing critical issues and offering powerful insights into the modern world. The film was supported by the Danish Film Institute, Nordisk Film & TV Fund, FilmFyn, Fritt Ord, the Czech Audiovisual Fund, and the Hermod Lannung Foundation. Co-producing partners include BBC Storyville, Denmark’s DR and DR Sales, Germany’s ZDF and ARTE, Norway’s NRK, Sweden’s SVT, Switzerland’s RTS, and the Netherlands’ VPRO.
Czech Television participated in the project, represented as part of this successful collaboration by Tereza Polachová and Ivana Pauerová Miloševičová.