In a small Russian town, one teacher’s stand against propaganda has become an international documentary, showcasing the real-world impact of Putin’s educational mandates and the personal cost of resistance.

Pavel Talankin, a teacher from Karabash, Russia, found himself at a crossroads when new government directives transformed his classroom. Students were suddenly required to march, sing patriotic songs, and absorb history lessons filled with inaccuracies about Ukraine and world events. When one teacher declared that anyone questioning the Russian government was “a parasite” and told dissenters to “Leave,” Talankin began documenting the changes.

His journey from concerned educator to whistleblower began with an impulsive response to an Instagram call for positive stories about how Russian lives had been affected by the war in Ukraine. Instead of providing propaganda, Talankin sent an angry note about being forced to become a propagandist himself.

This defiant act eventually connected him with American filmmaker David Borenstein, resulting in the documentary “Mr. Nobody Against Putin.” The film, which screens at WBUR’s CitySpace in Boston, uses Talankin’s own footage to chronicle his solitary resistance against Russian educational indoctrination efforts.

“I love my job, but I don’t want to be a pawn of the regime,” Talankin states in the film. Speaking through a translator during a video interview, he elaborated on his lifelong sense of being different – listening to music, reading books, and watching films that weren’t popular among his peers.

His school office had become a sanctuary for student outsiders – kids with colorful hair or those teaching themselves guitar. Talankin proudly called this space “a pillar of democracy” within the increasingly restrictive educational environment.

As his role as a whistleblower expanded, Talankin experienced growing paranoia. “Of course it becomes psychological,” Borenstein explained, “about what it feels like to live under a rapidly intensifying authoritarian regime, where everything you love and you’ve built has been torn down.”

Though the film doesn’t draw explicit parallels to other countries, Borenstein noted similarities to his experiences in China and even his home state of Florida, which he described as “ground zero for the education wars” in America. He mentioned hearing comparable stories about attacks on academic concepts and book banning efforts in U.S. schools.

Humor became an essential coping mechanism throughout the filming process. “The reality of living with an authoritarian regime is that humor is used as a coping mechanism,” Borenstein observed. “I think that’s true to the historical experience of many people living under such regimes the last many hundred years.”

The documentary has had ripple effects in Talankin’s hometown. His mother, initially fearful of her son’s defiance, now receives congratulations from community members who have seen the film through pirated streams. The political divisions that Talankin documented professionally also run through his own family – his two older brothers hold opposing views about Putin’s leadership, which recently led to a fight during their mother’s birthday celebration.

Talankin has since left Russia for an undisclosed European city, abandoning his former life. His story represents the personal cost of standing against governmental propaganda and the power of documentation in preserving truth in authoritarian environments.

The screening of “Mr. Nobody Against Putin” will be followed by a Q&A with Talankin and Borenstein, moderated by WBUR Senior Reporter Anthony Brooks, offering audiences a rare opportunity to engage directly with this contemporary chronicle of resistance.