Beyond Mr Nobody: documentary under Putin

Russian documentary has been in the limelight recently, since the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature was awarded to Mr Nobody Against Putin earlier this year. Directed remotely by the American David Borenstein, the film consists of footage covertly shot by videographer Pasha Talankin inside the school where he worked, capturing how the militarisation and authoritarianism of the modern Russian state makes itself felt in the classroom. Mr Nobody raises questions about the ethical and logistical challenges of non-fiction filmmaking in wartime Russia, and has been criticised by some, especially within Ukraine.

The focus on Borenstein’s film risks overshadowing the rich – and now at risk – tradition of documentary filmmaking inside Russia. In their new edited volume The New Russian Documentary: Reclaiming Reality in the Age of Authoritarianism, scholars Masha Shpolberg and Anastasia Kostina argue that in the face of growing repression, the 21st century has actually seen a boom in Russian non-fiction cinema: from new film schools and festivals to formal experimentation and theoretical debates, inspired by a desire for objectivity in the face of media manipulation from an increasingly coercive regime.

This week, host Sam Goff welcomes Masha and Anastasia onto the pod to discuss the history and the role of documentary film in Putin’s Russia. Masha Shpolberg is Assistant Professor of Film and Electronic Arts at Bard College. Anastasia Kostina is a post-doctoral fellow at Columbia University.

Check out Masha and Anastasia’s book here.

Explore our collection of contemporary Russian documentaries here.

Get in touch: podcast@klassiki.online.

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Intro music by Juliet Merchant.