Overview
- The Academy Award marks an upset over frontrunner The Perfect Neighbor, following the film’s late-season momentum after a BAFTA win.
- Pavel “Pasha” Talankin, a schoolteacher from Karabash, secretly filmed pro-war lessons, student assemblies and visits by Wagner-linked instructors after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
- Talankin smuggled his hard drives out of Russia in the summer of 2024 and now lives in European exile, co-directing the film with American filmmaker David Borenstein.
- Onstage, Borenstein drew parallels to broader democratic risks and media control, while Talankin appealed for peace, urging audiences to stop ongoing wars.
- Distribution has widened, with UK viewers able to watch on BBC iPlayer and others able to rent digitally, even as the film’s framing has prompted criticism about downplaying collective responsibility.