"Putin destroyed absolutely everything that could be destroyed. Everything that was left alive. But in the end he will lose this war," Pavel Talankin, who received an Oscar for the film "Mr. Nobody vs. Putin", tells DW.
DW: Both at the beginning and at the end of the film "Mr. Nobody vs. Putin", for which you won an Oscar, we see how you are preparing to leave your homeland. What does a person feel when they leave, knowing that they will probably never return?
Pavel Talankin: The same as many people who found themselves in my situation. Who do not agree to accept what is happening in Russia. Who do not agree to accept what Putin is doing in the neighboring country. Who do not agree to tolerate. Just like them.
"I dream of such a Russia"
DV: In the film you say that if a person loves his country, he must know, realize when there are problems in it. But even in your native Karabash you do not see understanding. Why are more of your compatriots not aware of these problems?
Pavel Talankin: Honestly, I do not know. I do not have an answer to this question. Some kind of huge analysis needs to be done.
DV: Are most people ignoring what is happening, or are they just living in some kind of illusion?
Pavel Talankin: I felt that there are people who understand what is happening, but are afraid to oppose this regime. Because everything that can be said or done will lead to real consequences. And there are many people, political prisoners, who have suffered from the regime. Even though they have done nothing criminal. Absolutely nothing criminal. And they have received real sentences, more severe than those for murder.
All this is so indicative. A person can be put in prison for a poster on which nothing is written. And the father of a child who drew an anti-war drawing at school will be deprived of parental rights and will be put in prison. There are many similar cases. Very, very, very.
DV: You have been declared by the regime to be a "foreign agent", i.e. an enemy of the Kremlin, even though you show the propaganda footage that the authorities made you film. Are you afraid?
Pavel Talankin: Me? No, I am not afraid. Maybe it's because of my stupidity, but being afraid is the easiest thing in the world.
DV: What kind of Russia do you dream of?
Pavel Talankin: For a European country with European values, where human rights and freedoms will come first, where people will be treated with respect and their opinion will be taken into account, where there will be free and fair elections.
I would like to see Russia in the future as a country that has defeated corruption, where free business exists, where it can develop, where you are sure that the state will not take away the business you have invested your strength and soul into. I dream of it being a place where the state will not interfere with its propaganda in the educational process, where people will be able to receive decent medical care. I would like such a country.
"There is no hope anymore"
DV: Is Russia moving away from this dream?
Pavel Talankin: Putin destroyed everything. Even when the Soviet Union collapsed and Putin later came to power, it was a completely different regime, a completely different Putin. Many people believed that some enlightenment was possible and there was hope, but now there is no hope. With this war, he destroyed absolutely everything that could be destroyed, everything that was left alive.
DV: In the film, your mother, a librarian at the school where you teach, says that Russians love to fight, especially the young ones. You are a young Russian, but you don't like war. Why?
Pavel Talankin: I think her opinion on this issue is one-sided - I am also Russian, but I don't want to fight. And to fight in a neighboring independent and free country - why the hell do I even have to go there and impose my own rules? Imagine that you have a neighbor, and you have made repairs at home, for example in the kitchen, and the neighbor comes and says: "The walls are painted badly, I don't like the color of your walls". What's the difference? What right do you have to simply invade a neighboring country and impose your own rules there? Who are you?
I am not ready to support this regime, especially what it is doing in the neighboring country. I think my opinion is not isolated, because I know a huge number of people who agree with me. One of the first things I did with this Oscar was to show it, because in the film Putin says that wars are not won by generals, but by teachers, inaccurately quoting Bismarck, to whom the quote about teachers and priests is attributed. I know many priests, I know even more teachers who disagree. And this Oscar confirms it - confirms that he will ultimately lose this war.
DW: Isn't it paradoxical that thanks to Putin, a teacher from the small town of Karabash, known for its dirty air and difficult living conditions, managed to win an Oscar?
Pavel Talankin: Circumstances have arranged themselves in such a way that there is this film, this war, and this regime. Unfortunately.
DV: If you could say one sentence to Putin, what would it be?
Pavel Talankin: Leave us alone.
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Pavel Talankin is a teacher and documentary filmmaker. Until 2024, he works at a school in the Russian city of Karabash, where he is responsible for filming school celebrations. Against his will, he is obliged to film propaganda lessons after the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022. Talankin fled Russia and used the footage to co-direct the film "Mr. Nobody vs. Putin" with David Borenstein, for which he was awarded the Oscar for Best Documentary.
The Oscar-winning director presented the film at the French Institute in Sofia on June 3, where he was a guest at the invitation of the Single Step Foundation.