Oscar-Winning Documentary Opens the 12th Edition of KineDok Romania, on May 27

The 12th edition runs until April 2027 in museums, libraries, schools, bookstores, gardens and creative hubs, with screenings organized by over 20 local partners across the country, coordinated by the One World Romania Association, the national organizer of the program. Admission is free of charge to all events.

The new edition opens in Bucharest, at the Czech Centre (11 Ion Ghica St.), on Wednesday, May 27, at 6:30 PM, featuring this year’s Oscar and BAFTA winner for Best Documentary Feature, “Mr. Nobody Against Putin”, directed by filmmaker David Borenstein and protagonist Pavel Talankin. The screening will be subtitled in Romanian and followed by a discussion with the audience.

The film follows the unlikely hero Pavel “Pasha” Talankin – a beloved Russian primary school teacher, videographer and mentor who offers students a safe haven in his office. After Russia invades Ukraine, Pasha’s role in the school changes dramatically as he is reluctantly drawn into Putin’s propaganda machine. Forced to promote state-sanctioned messages and horrified by the transformation of his school and community, he struggles with guilt and a sense of powerlessness, leading him to become an international whistleblower.

Pasha documents intimate and revealing footage of Putin’s regime, capturing the rise of militarized children’s groups, repressive laws, fervent nationalism, and the recruitment of graduating

students to fight in the war. When he learns his own life may be at risk, Pasha is forced to plan a dangerous escape from Russia. “Mr. Nobody Against Putin” showcases rare footage that reveals the profound impact of Putin’s regime on the lives of everyday Russians, particularly its children.

Right after the opening, the film will also be screened in Bucharest at Seneca Anticafe, on May 28, followed by a discussion with historian Armand Goșu, an expert on the post-Soviet space, and moderated by political scientist and cultural journalist Marius Stan. The series of KineDok screenings will then tour the country, heading to Cluj-Napoca, Oradea and Suceava, with more dates to be announced soon. The upcoming screening schedule is as follows:

BUCHAREST

Czech Centre, May 27, 6:30 PM

Seneca Anticafe, May 28, 6:30 PM

CLUJ-NAPOCA

“Octavian Goga” County Library, May 27, 7:00 PM

ORADEA

“Gheorghe Șincai” County Library, June 4, 6:00 PM. Local organizer: MA hub

SUCEAVA

Spațiul Cilindru, May 28, 7:00 PM. Local organizer: Un concept Luna Association

Protagonist Pavel Talankin on the importance of the film: “In my childhood, my grandmother told me a legend about a massive stone that blocked the road. It was so big that travelers had no choice but to go around it. Everyone hated it – it brought nothing but inconvenience. Then one day, a skilled man came along and threw the stone high into the sky. And that’s how the moon appeared. I’m not that kind of master. I can’t remove the stones in our path, but I can point to them. This film is about one such stone – a monstrous one – from which blood flows and whose stench poisons everything around it. It’s about propaganda, spreading through schools, cities, the entire country. It’s about how people are handed pieces of this stone whether they want them or not, passing them along until everyone collapses under the weight, obedient and numb, accepting absurdity as truth.”