“In the name of our future, in the name of our children, stop all wars,” urged the director and one of the characters of the documentary Pavel Talankin in Russian on the stage of the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles. Its proponents said documentaries often highlight oppression in society, where political leaders crack down on freedom of expression, and social issues.
“Mr. Nobody Against Putin is about losing your country,” said another director of the film, David Borenstein, according to the AP. According to him, this can happen when people don’t object to a situation where the government kills people in the streets, or when oligarchs try to gain control of the media. “We all face moral choices, but fortunately, Nobody is stronger than you think,” he added.
The film traces the harsh impact of Russian propaganda on society. The footage was taken by Talankin himself, who lived his entire life in the Russian city of Karabash with a population of 10,000. He worked as a teacher at a local primary school and with the start of the war in Ukraine, his job changed when he was tasked with implementing a new wartime education plan including special lessons and organizing propaganda events.
At the same time, he had to document everything on camera and send the material to the Ministry of Education. The frustrated teacher decided not to turn off the camera and document not only state-mandated activities, but also other events in and outside the school. At the same time, he also met director David Borenstein, and together they found a way to get the footage off the ground.
The film was created in cooperation between the Danish production company Made in Copenhagen and the Czech company PINK. The Czech co-producer participated in the audio and visual post-production of the film and became a key partner in ensuring the safety of the film’s protagonist.
Babiš’s advisor: Anti-Putin film, not anti-Russian
A stormy discussion erupted over the weekend around the documentary, in which Natálie Vachatová, the new advisor to Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO), joined. On the social network X, she contradicted that the image was clearly anti-Russian, which outraged some users. At the same time, the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other countries labeled the elections the year before last as undemocratic.
“However, in Russia, most people vote for Putin, regardless of whether it is propaganda or not, regardless of how problematic one may perceive it, this is simply a pure statement of reality. Therefore, in this sense, it is anti-Russian. But for me, the film is really completely stolen,” said Vachatová.
Previously, Babiš’s adviser pushed the issue of the Czech Republic’s withdrawal from the EU, but today she advises the Prime Minister on the issue of freedom of speech. In her role as an analyst at the non-profit organization Society for the Defense of Freedom of Expression (SOSP), she did not spare the media or the fight against disinformation.
Seznam News reported last week that Vachatová is also involved in the preparation of a Russian-inspired law aimed at non-profit organizations. According to the website Novinky.cz, her brother is doing business in Russia, she herself defended the Russian Federation on social networks in the past.
What other films have shone in Los Angeles?
The Academy Award for Best Picture went to One Battle After Another. He received six statuettes in total, including the directing and screenplay awards for Paul Thomas Anderson.
American actor Sean Penn won his third Oscar for his supporting role as the crude and profiteering officer Steven Lockjaw, but he did not attend the award ceremony in Los Angeles. “I wrote this movie to apologize to my children for the mess we’re leaving them in this world,” said director Anderson.
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Michael Jordan won the Oscar for Best Actor in the film The Sinners, in which he played the characters of two black enterprising brothers in the era of racial segregation in the United States. The film received a total of four awards.
The vampire horror film also received Oscars for, among other things, music, which is a very important element in the film, the original screenplay and cinematography. Autumn Duraldová Arkapawová succeeded as the first woman in this category. While accepting the award, Jordan recalled the six black actors who had won the Oscar for Best Actor before him. Jordan added that the award places him “among the greats, among the ancestors, among his people.”
Jessie Buckley, who played the title character in Hamnet, set in Shakespearean England, was among the favourites. She is the first Irish woman to win an Oscar for Best Actress.
I’m the last human host, O’Brien joked
The Oscar for best foreign film this year went to Norwegian director Joachim Trier’s drama Emotional Value, about a family crisis between an aging director and his daughters. “No war, let Palestine be free,” said the Spanish actor Javier Bardem when handing over the statuette in one of the few speeches given in Los Angeles about current world events.
The ceremony began in Los Angeles with a jingle and greeting from host Conan O’Brien, who hosted the ceremony for the second year in a row. “I have the honor of being the last human host of the Academy Awards,” O’Brien joked, adding that he will be replaced by a robot next year.
In the usual part of the evening, when filmmakers who have died since the previous Oscar night are remembered, the organizers remembered, for example, actress Claudia Cardinalová, actor Robert Duvall, Czech scenographer Theodor Pištek and actor Robert Redford. The award ceremony itself lasted about four hours.
