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A Russian schoolteacher smuggled footage abroad and made an award-winning documentary about wartime propaganda. Here’s how his hometown reacted.

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A Russian schoolteacher smuggled footage abroad and made an award-winning documentary about wartime propaganda. Here’s how his hometown reacted. Karabash used to be called “the most polluted city in the world,” but then, in 2025, it achieved fame thanks instead to the documentary film Mr. Nobody against Putin. Now the film is up for an Oscar. The film’s co-director, 34-year-old school events coord...
The strongest version of this narrative is that Talankin’s documentary exposes the insidious nature of state propaganda in Russian schools, using firsthand footage to reveal how children are indoctrinated into supporting the war in Ukraine. The film’s international recognition underscores its significance as a rare, unfiltered look inside Russia’s educational system under wartime conditions. Talankin’s decision to leave Russia and release the footage abroad highlights the risks faced by dissente...