Pavel Talankin

Pavel Talankin (; born 11 March 1991) is a Russian teacher and documentary filmmaker who worked as a teacher-organizer and school videographer at Karabash Primary School No. 1 in Karabash, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. He is credited as co-director, cinematographer, and narrator of the anti-war opposition documentary feature Mr Nobody Against Putin.

Mr. Nobody Against Putin premiered in the World Cinema Documentary program at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival and received the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award. The film won the BAFTA Award for Best Documentary and the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 98th Academy Awards. Talankin left Russia in 2024 and emigrated to Prague (Czech Republic). His mother worked at the same school as a librarian. In public reporting, Talankin’s pre-film community work in Karabash included activities with students connected to media and youth programming, including a 2021 project building a detailed Minecraft model of Karabash with students.

Talankin collaborated with filmmaker David Borenstein on Mr. Nobody Against Putin using footage recorded inside his school over a two-year period following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and he left Russia in June 2024 carrying recorded material on seven hard drives.

Style and themes Talankin’s credited filmmaking work centers on first-person documentary narration and observational footage recorded within a Russian primary school setting in which he worked officially as a videographer. Reviews have described the film’s approach as combining on-the-ground school footage with diary-like narration to depict the integration of ideological messaging into everyday school routines.

Reception Coverage of Talankin in Russian-language reporting has emphasized his former role inside Karabash Primary School No. 1 and the risks associated with removing filmed school material from Russia after the start of the full scale invasion in 2022. When presented with the award, Talankin made a call to stop wars, mentioning children.

Legal issues in Russia A Chelyabinsk court banned the documentary from streaming platforms – VK Video, Yandex, and Motion Video – on the grounds that it "propagates extremism and terrorism." The court cited the use of the White-blue-white flag and associated it with the Freedom of Russia Legion.

On March 27, 2026 the Russian Ministry of Justice added Talankin to its list of foreign agents.