A Russian court has banned the Oscar-winning documentary Mr. Nobody Against Putin, a documentary about wartime propaganda in a Russian provincial school that officials claim promotes extremism and anti-government sentiment.
Independent media website Mediazona reported the decision on March 26, noting Russian prosecutors called for the ban claiming the documentary "propagates extremism and terrorism."
Authorities in Russia have criticized the movie's content saying it conveys a "negative attitude toward the special military operation and the current government." Special military is how officials are instructed to refer to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Directed by David Borenstein and teacher Pavel Talankin, the film follows Talankin in his job at a school in the poor mining town of Karabash in the Chelyabinsk region.
Backed by two years of footage shot by Talankin, the film shows how the Russian government indoctrinates students with pro-war messages.
According to prosecutors, the film also features the white-blue-white flag, which Russian officials associate with the "Freedom of Russia" Legion, that is fighting alongside Ukrainian forces against occupying Russian troops, and includes footage of children shown without parental consent.
They also requested that the court ban the film on video platforms such as VK Video, Yandex.kz, and Motion Video, for an "unspecified group of people."
Talankin fled Russia in the summer of 2024 with the hard drives containing what would become the documentary feature.
The film premiered on January 25 at the Sundance Film Festival, where it received a special jury award.
Mr. Nobody Against Putin won an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature on March 15.
