Mr Nobody Against Putin | Encounters SA International Doc Film Festival

Awards

Sundance Film Festival (2025) – Winner: World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award

Sundance Film Festival (2025) – Nominated: Grand Jury Prize: World Cinema – Documentary

Prague One World Film Festival (2025) – Nominated: Best Film Award: International Competition Jury Award

Göteborg Film Festival (2025) – Nominated: Dragon Award: Best Nordic Documentary

Cinema for Peace Awards (2025) – Nominated: Cinema for Peace Dove: Political Film of the Year

The Hague Movies that Matter Festival (2025) – Nominated: Grand Jury Documentary Award: Best Documentary

Docville (2025) – Winner: Jury Award: Best Topics Documentary

ZagrebDox (2025) – Winner: Big Stamp: International Competition

13 PG V
Feature
International

African Premiere

Mr Nobody_poster Poster
Film Poster

Set in a small town in the Ural Mountains, Mr Nobody Against Putin tells the story of Pavel Talankin, a school videographer whose deep engagement with his students is interrupted when Russia invades Ukraine, and a soviet-style propaganda programme is suddenly instituted at the school. Now, instead of documenting school life, the well-loved Pavel is required to record the new activities as proof that the school is adhering to the regulations. His camera, once the mechanism through which he connected with people, becomes an object of suspicion and the previously rich school life is drained of colour. But when Pavel comes across an Instagram post looking for people prepared to talk about the impact of the war on education, he embraces the opportunity to use his camera as a weapon against Putin’s information war. The resulting film is disturbing and charming in equal measure, the purity of its central character’s intentions standing in stark contrast to the brutality and inhumanity of the Russian state.

Trailer
Previous Festivals

Docville (2025)

Göteborg FF (2025)

Prague One World FF (2025)

Sundance FF (2025)

The Hague Movies that Matter Festival (2025)

ZagrebDox (2025)