In this Oscar-winning documentary, a Russian schoolteacher covertly shares revealing footage of the state propaganda machine and its impact on his students.

Pasha Talankin is an unlikely hero—a beloved Russian primary school teacher, known as a mentor and prankster who offers students a safe haven in his office. After Russia invades Ukraine, Pasha's role in the school changes dramatically as he is reluctantly drawn into Putin's propaganda machine. Forced to promote state-sanctioned messages and horrified by the transformation of his school and community, he struggles with guilt and a sense of powerlessness, leading him to become an international whistleblower.

As the school's videographer, Pasha documents intimate and revealing footage of Putin's regime, capturing the rise of militarized children's groups, repressive laws, fervent nationalism and the recruitment of graduating students to fight in the war. When he learns his own life may be at risk, Pasha is forced to plan a dangerous escape from Russia.

Discussion follows with director Pavel Talankin. Programmed in collaboration with the Department of Eastern European, Eurasian and Russian Studies

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