As part of the 79th BAFTA ceremony in the Best Documentary category, the film “Mr. Nobody Against Putin,” which tells the story of Russians, won. This message appeared in the ceremony’s official materials on the social network X.
The film follows teacher Pavlo Talankin, who works at a school near the Ural Mountains in a mining town. He records his students and documents the actions of Putin’s administration aimed at controlling public opinion during the Russia-Ukraine war, according to the film’s description.
The film was produced in a joint venture with American director David Borenstein, who also served as the screenwriter. He noted that teacher Pavlo Talankin faces a moral choice, whether in Russia or on the streets of Minneapolis, in light of the protests against immigration controls in Minnesota, as reported by the Associated Press.
“whether in Russia or on the streets of Minneapolis, we always face a moral choice”
– David Borenstein
Compared with other documentary works in this category, “Mr. Nobody Against Putin” outpaced its rivals, including Mstyslav Chernov’s film “2000 Meters to Andriivka,” produced jointly by Associated Press and Frontline PBS.
Context of the awards and their significance
Most BAFTA winners are determined by approximately 8,500 members of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. The only prize decided by public vote – the Rising Star – often serves as a predictor of future success.
BAFTA is the annual award of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, which is considered Britain’s equivalent of the Oscars and has roots dating back to 1948.
In previous years, Ukraine also enjoyed success at BAFTA: in 2024 the documentary “20 Days in Mariupol” by Mstyslav Chernov won the award in the Best Documentary category; in 2025 the film “Stone, Scissors, Paper” won the award in the Best British Short Film category, and actor Oleksandr Rudinsky, who played the lead role, in his speech dedicated the award to his friend Yevhen Svitlychnyi, who died on the front in 2023.
The victory of this film underscores the global audience’s interest in documentary stories that combine educational elements, social issues, and politics, especially in the context of recent events around Russia and Ukraine.