MR. NOBODY AGAINST PUTIN
MR. NOBODY AGAINST PUTIN
Performance
Pavel Talankin lives in Karabash, an industrial town in the Southern Urals, which is said to be the most polluted place on Earth. Pavel is an event coordinator and videographer at a local school. The students adore him, his office is a meeting point for anyone seeking support, self-expression and a romm where they can speake more freely than outside. But with the outbreak of war, the situation at school changes. History lessons are replaced by propaganda lectures, where children are taught to read out the «correct» answers from a piece of paper. During breaks, students learn to march and salute. Mercenaries from the Wagner Group, who have returned from Ukraine, conduct «patriotism classes».
In these changed circumstances, Talankins work takes on a new meaning, transforming from simply filming school events into documenting a new reality that he himself cannot come to terms with. His camera becomes an instrument of resistance, capturing the fear of adults who are afraid to go against the system, the suffering of children whose relatives are sent to the army, and the state of the country itself as it attempts to normalise war and make it part of everyday life. In order to show his footage to a wider audience, the protagonist had to leave the country.
Text: Ksenia Reutova
FR 07.11. I 12:45 I KAMMERBÜHNE I original version with English subtitles + simultaneous German translation
(pre-film: SONGS OF DUOLAN)
David Borenstein
Pavel Talankin
Kevin Bavnhøj, Teis Syvsig
Michal Rataj, Jonas Struck
Pink Productions
David Borenstein, Pavel Talankin -
