A Russian court on Thursday banned the Oscar-winning documentary “Mr Nobody Against Putin” from several streaming platforms, claiming it promoted “negative attitudes” toward the Russian government and the war in Ukraine.
The film exposes pro-war propaganda lessons delivered at a school in Russia’s Chelyabinsk region, drawing on two years of footage secretly filmed and smuggled out by the school’s videographer.
Last week, Russia’s Kremlin-appointed human rights council criticized the film, alleging that “images of minors were used without obtaining parental consent.”
In Thursday’s ruling, the Chelyabinsk court declared that the documentary promoted “terrorism” and “negative attitudes toward the current government,” according to Russia’s independent Sotavision news outlet.
The court also objected to the display of a white-blue-white flag, a symbol used by some Russian opposition members to protest the war in Ukraine, which is banned domestically as “extremist.”
The decision bars the movie, which won Best Documentary at the Oscars earlier this month, from three Russian streaming platforms. Sotavision published an audio recording of the judge’s statement in court.
This is the first known judicial move to restrict the film, though bootleg copies remain widely available online in Russia.
Since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine four years ago, the Kremlin has systematically suppressed opposition, including efforts to shape school curricula to promote the government’s narrative about the war.
The film’s protagonist, Pavel Talankin, fled Russia in 2024.
AFP
