A Russian court banned the Oscar-winning documentary Mr Nobody Against Putin from several streaming platforms on Thursday, alleging it promoted “negative attitudes” about the Russian government and the war in Ukraine.
The film documents pro-war propaganda lessons delivered at a school in Russia’s Chelyabinsk region, using two years of footage secretly filmed and smuggled out of the country by the school’s videographer, Pavel Talankin.
It includes footage of Russian schoolchildren absorbing lectures on the need to “denazify” Ukraine and speeches by war veterans, taking part in grenade-throwing competitions and lessons on how to handle guns.
Russia’s Kremlin-appointed human rights council complained about the film last week, saying that “images of minors were used without obtaining the consent of their parents” and that it would appeal to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which runs the Oscars, to launch an investigation.
In a ruling on Thursday, a court in the Chelyabinsk region declared that the film promoted “terrorism” and “negative attitudes toward the current government”, Russia’s independent Sota Vision news outlet reported.
The court also objected to the film displaying a “white-blue-white” flag, a symbol that some members of Russia’s opposition use to protest against the war in Ukraine but that is banned in Russia as “extremist”.
The court banned the movie – which won best documentary at the Oscars earlier this month and best documentary at the Baftas in February – from three Russian streaming platforms, Sota Vision reported, publishing an audio recording of the judge speaking in court.
It is the first known move to use the courts to restrict access to the film – bootleg copies of which are widely available online – inside Russia.
Since launching its full-scale military assault on Ukraine four years ago, the Kremlin has suppressed opposition to the war.
Authorities have sought to rally support for the Ukraine war in the education system, amending school curriculums to promote the Kremlin’s narrative about the offensive.
Talankin fled Russia in 2024. Accepting the Oscar earlier in March, he told the audience: “For the sake of our future, and for the sake of all our children, let’s end all wars.”