Russia slams Oscar-winning anti-Putin documentary over use of children's footage

MOSCOW: Russia on Wednesday condemned the Oscar-winning documentary Mr Nobody Against Putin, claiming that the film featured footage of children recorded without obtaining parental consent. The statement marked Moscow's first official reaction to the documentary winning the prestigious Academy Award.

The documentary was created by Pavel Talankin, a 35-year-old small-town Russian school videographer, and US filmmaker David Borenstein. The film chronicles the pro-war patriotic lessons that were introduced in Russian schools under President Vladimir Putin during Moscow's military offensive in Ukraine.

How the documentary was made

Talankin, who was originally tasked by his school's administration to film the propaganda lessons, eventually decided to secretly collaborate with Borenstein, the American director. He later fled Russia with the smuggled footage and now openly opposes the war in Ukraine. The pair went on to win the Academy Award for the documentary.

Russia's official response

Russia's human rights council, a government body, stated that "images of minors were used without obtaining the consent of their parents" in the documentary. The council further noted that the footage was originally intended as an "internal record of school activities" for educational purposes.

The condemnation from Russian authorities centres on the use of footage featuring schoolchildren, which Moscow argues was recorded for internal institutional purposes and not for public distribution or use in a documentary film. The Russian government body's remarks represent the first formal response from Moscow since the film received the Oscar.

The documentary has drawn international attention for its portrayal of how patriotic and pro-war messaging has been embedded into the Russian education system amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Talankin's decision to secretly document and then smuggle the footage out of Russia before fleeing the country adds a dramatic dimension to the story behind the award-winning film.

The Academy Award win has brought renewed global scrutiny to the issue of state-sponsored propaganda in Russian schools, a subject the documentary explores in detail through the lens of Talankin's firsthand experience as the person originally assigned to record the lessons.