Review: Mr. Nobody Against Putin

Talankin is inadvertently forced to take a stand on the war

It's hard to know what is really happening in Russia, with President Vladimir Putin in firm control.

But the Oscar-nominated documentary Mr. Nobody Against Putin gives a peek inside that is courageous, frightening and damning.

"Pasha" Talankin lives in Karabash, east of Moscow and the town is known for having the most polluted air on the planet thanks to the copper refinery, the major industry there.

Students begin singing patriotic songs

Talankin is the events coordinator in a primary school, and his job is to film things that happen there. It is also the school he went to, and feels most at home here, describing himself as a loner. Nevertheless some of the students like him and hang out with him as they get into their teens.

His wry remarks make him easily likeable to the viewer, but things change in February 2022 when Putin announces a special military operation -- in Ukraine.

Suddenly things at the school start to change and Talankin is ordered by the government to film teachers lecturing the students to justify the war in historical terms, and the students marching with the Russian flag, singing patriotic songs, and then uploading the footage to a government website.

This is not what he signed up for and not only is he overwhelmed with having to film so much propaganda, but Talankin himself wonders how he can protest against the war. He watches news clips of protesters being beaten and dragged by the police and concedes he isn't brave enough to do that.

A boy checking out an old rifle

Meanwhile viewers watch the students evolve from being excited to being at school to being bored out of their minds listening to what teachers are forced to tell them, their eyes glaze over. In the beginning they wear white blouses and skirts or shirts with pants, and towards the end are in army fatigues. 

One scene shows members of the Wagner Group at the school passing around a mine to students look at, and casually saying if they go near one that explodes, it will take out their leg; there are grenade throwing competitions, and most chilling is a boy holding an old rifle and aiming it at Talankin as he films him.

Eventually some of Talankin's former students are conscripted, or people at the school know of someone who had to become soldiers. Viewers feel on edge wondering what happened to them.

They also wonder what will happen to Talankin, as Putin declares in 2023 that anyone opposed to the Ukraine occupation would be guilty of treason. Talankin does rebel outwardly, resulting in some of his colleagues strongly disagreeing with him, and eventually students and colleagues are afraid to be associated with him.

One of the teachers marching with students

Mr. Nobody Against Putin was not shot expertly, and it is not meant to be, because all his clips were just for the school's records. But because Talankin had so much filming to do, another videographer was recruited, and that's where there are scenes with him hanging out with students, or of him walking around the school.

He amassed two years' worth of video footage that he and co-director David Borenstein sifted through and put together. The documentary is a brave and harrowing account of what it's like living in a small town, and how one man tried hard to push back in his own way.

Mr. Nobody Against Putin

Co-directed by Pasha Talankin and David Borenstein

90 minutes

People Turn Out to Vote in Droves

Almost 2 million people voted on the first day of advance polls

Yesterday was the first day of advance polls and Elections Canada reports nearly 2 million people cast their ballots across the country for the federal election on April 28.

Advance polls are available for four days, until Easter Monday.

In Metro Vancouver, long lines were reported in the city's West End, Langley, Surrey and the riding of Vancouver-Granville.

Unlike the city's by-elections, there are no special provisions for the elderly, and so everyone had to wait in line.

Concerned about this prospect, we made the strategic move today to vote at dinnertime, when we thought most people would be preoccupied with eating.

So we had an early dinner and rushed to the advance voting location (different from the location for the actual voting day).

We easily got a parking spot at the elementary school and lo and behold -- four people ahead of us!

The man who greeted us at the door checked our voting cards to make sure we were in the right place and then we waited in line.

Two people checked one person's ID to make sure it matched with their voter card, and then manually found their name in a printed list and crossed their name off before giving them a small voter ballot that was folded.

Actually it was just one person doing that work, and then him reading out some code numbers for the second person to take down.

When a voter completed the ballot, he or she went back to that first person, who ripped off a grey strip from the ballot before the voter could stuff it into the cardboard box.

Is it any wonder why people waited so long yesterday? It seems there is only one master list and to avoid duplication and manipulation of it, only one person can have access to it, hence the bottleneck.

With two more days to go, hopefully there will be more people voting by Monday.

In the 2021 election, almost 5.8 million people voted in advance polls. A total of 17,209,811 voters cast their ballots, representing a voter turnout of 62.6 percent.

As many people are calling this the most contentious election in decades, hopefully the turnout will be even higher. Every vote counts!

Review: Favoriten

Immigrant children learn German in an elementary school

The 48th Hong Kong International Film Festival is on and I managed to catch a film while here -- and with YTSL no less!

We watched a documentary called Favoriten by Austrian director Ruth Beckermann that follows a class of mostly immigrant students and their teacher in an elementary school in a district of Vienna called Favoriten.

The film follows the premise that in Vienna's elementary school system, over 60 percent of students don't have German as their first language.

The students reveal honest, raw emotions

The students are from various places, like Syria, Turkey, and Ukraine, and they learn German together as it is the official language in Austria needed for work. 

These children are wonderful subjects, as they have a range of emotions and the way they talk reveal their thought process, their upbringing, or cultural background.

Their teacher is young and kind. She wears heavy makeup, and casual clothes. Not only does she teach them the curriculum, but also helps them resolve disputes with fellow classmates. She reasons with them or encourages them to apologise or to explain the incident, not only as a way to get them to speak more German, but also to learn how to get along with others. 

One girl accuses a boy sitting at the same table of bothering her; she claims he is talking non stop, but he denies it. Another more serious accusation is when a girl says the boys accuse her of having lice and they hit her, but they vehemently deny it. The teacher says they cannot accuse her of this when she doesn't have lice and adds that when she was a girl she had lice too, so what's the big deal?

Viewers watch the children visit a mosque and many of the students are Muslim and are proud of their religion. Another time they go to a Catholic church, but no one in the class is Roman Catholic. They also go to swimming class and in a funny scene they kids learn parts of the body, including words like penis and vagina, and point them out on the drawing projected on the wall.

The teacher (left) tries to reason with the pupils

It's also interesting to watch the teacher interact with the children's families in parent-teacher interviews. Some parents can speak German, while others rely on an older child to translate; overall they are grateful to the teacher for teaching their child. Most of the parents are keen for their children to integrate into Austria as much as possible, while one expresses reservations and considers taking his daughter back to Turkey. Perhaps he is tired of discrimination or doesn't feel welcome in Vienna.

Favoriten follows the students over a few years with the same teacher so they have become very close. When she meets with each child to go over their test results -- not even an exam, each one has a different reaction that's honest and emotional; one child bursts into tears, stressed out and devastated that the viewer can't help but feel for him.

There is also a hint of the strain of resources in the school system, as the in-house counsellor has been assigned elsewhere and a psychologist won't be coming anytime soon; there aren't even enough teachers to teach which is concerning.

Nevertheless it's a heart-felt film, with a lot of honest observations and emotions thanks to the children who speak their minds, while their teacher tries hard to help them peel away biases and help them to become more confident and happy in their new hometown.

Favoriten

Directed by Ruth Beckermann

118 minutes