A Russian court banned the distribution of Mr Nobody Against Putin after authorities claimed the Oscar-winning documentary promoted “negative attitudes” about the government and the war in Ukraine.
The film, directed by David Borenstein and Pavel Talankin, won the Academy Award for best documentary feature earlier this month as well as the Bafta.
Mr Nobody Against Putin premiered in January 2025 at the Sundance Film Festival where it received a special jury award.
The film, based on footage secretly recorded over two years by Pavel Talankin, a school teacher in the town of Karabash in Chelyabinsk region, documents how “patriotic” lessons introduced after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 are delivered in classrooms. The lessons include lectures justifying the war, military-style drills, and visits from veterans.
Talankin gave the footage to Borenstein, an American filmmaker living in Denmark, in 2024.
The ban on the documentary was issued by a Chelyabinsk court on Thursday after prosecutors said it negatively portrayed Russia and promoted “extremism and terrorism”, according to the AFP news agency.
The ruling prohibits the documentary’s distribution across the country, including on three streaming platforms, “in the interests of an indefinite number of persons”.
The court said that the documentary fostered “negative attitudes toward the current government” and the war in Ukraine, and contained symbols deemed extremist under Russian law, including the white-blue-white flag used by some anti-war groups.
Prosecutors also argued that schoolchildren had been filmed without parental consent.
Russia’s presidential human rights council last week objected to the use of footage of children “without obtaining the consent of their parents” and said they would appeal to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and Unesco to investigate the film’s production.
The Kremlin did not publicly comment on the ruling.
Russian officials have also taken issue with the documentary’s portrayal of the education system. Since 2022, the government has overhauled school curricula to promote its narrative of the war, mandating “patriotic education” programmes and requiring schools to demonstrate compliance.
After receiving his Oscar, Talankin said: “For four years we have looked at the sky for shooting stars to make a very important wish. But there are countries where, instead of shooting stars, bombs fall from the sky and drones fly. In the name of our future, in the name of all of our children, stop all of these wars now.”
“Mr Nobody Against Putin is about how you lose your country,” Borenstein said. “You lose it through countless small little acts of complicity. We all face a moral choice, but luckily even a nobody is more powerful than you think.”
Russian news agency RIA Novosti left out the documentary category when it reported the Oscars results.
Beloved British children’s classic Mr Benn set for live action film adaptation
Netflix’s groundbreaking drama Adolescence tops Bafta TV nominations with 11 nods
Valerie Perrine, Superman actor who narrowly avoided Manson tragedy, dies aged 82
Oscars announce significant change for upcoming ceremony away from Hollywood
C-3PO head used in Star Wars’ The Empire Strikes Back sells for $1 million
Antonio Banderas: ‘I was told I’d only play bad guys because I’m Spanish’
