
“An Entertaining Film About a Very Pressing and Complicated Topic”: Editor Nicolaj Monberg on Mr. Nobody Against Putin

Pasha is a nonconformist and a teacher in a small town in the Ural Mountains who finds his world turned upside down when Russia launches its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Director David Borenstein’s documentary, Mr. Nobody Against Putin, follows Pasha, himself the cinematographer and credited co-director, as he watches his institution transform into a militarized indoctrination center for nationalist ideology.
Mr. Nobody Against Putin screens as part of Sundance’s World Cinema Documentary Competition. Below, editor Nicolaj Monberg explains how he balanced the desire for an entertaining film about contemporary Russian politics with the gravity of its subject matter.
See all responses to our annual Sundance editor interviews here.
Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job?
Monberg: I had edited a film with David, Can’t Feel Nothing, in 2023, and he told me about his next project, Mr. Nobody Against Putin, and I immediately found it interesting and important, so without hesitance I offered my assistance. Four months later he offered me the chance to collaborate with him on this film.
Filmmaker: In terms of advancing your film from its earliest assembly to your final cut, what were goals as an editor? What elements of the film did you want to enhance, or preserve, or tease out or totally reshape?
Monberg: We all wanted to make an entertaining film about a very pressing and complicated topic high on the international political agenda. In order to show how the main character and co-director’s world was transformed by recent events, we wanted the film to start out with some lightness to the tone and then evolve into a tragedy, but we wanted it to end with a little bit of hope, both for our audience and also for our main character.
Filmmaker: How did you achieve these goals? What types of editing techniques, or processes, or feedback screenings allowed this work to occur?
Monberg: I have done mostly fictional films and series, so my approach is very much towards building the main character and keeping the storytelling flowing. In the beginning of the film we use freeze frames, comedic music and a voiceover with a lot of sarcasm to lure our audience in, and as the film progresses we use more and more symphonic music and a slower editing pace to underline the tragedy and seriousness of the story.
Filmmaker: As an editor, how did you come up in the business, and what influences have affected your work?
Monberg: I walked into an editing room as a young and optimistic 19-year-old, and I haven’t been out since. But my mood has changed. No seriously: I started as an assistant on the first Avid in Denmark in 1992, and after a few years I had moved on to doing commercials and shorter films. I attended film school and have been editing feature films and series ever since. I have always been inspired by the great American editors, Thelma Schoonmaker, Walter Murch, Anne V. Coates and the likes. In them I have seen a recklessness regarding the norm in storytelling and editing styles while always having the story and emotions in the center of the films.
Filmmaker: What editing system did you use, and why?
Monberg: I used Avid Media Compser. I have used Avid for 30+ years and would never attempt to edit a project of this magnitude on any other system.
Filmmaker: What was the most difficult scene to cut and why? And how did you do it?
Monberg: One scene that comes to mind is a scene where we only had an audio recording (of a funeral). We tried all sorts of visuals and graphic solutions but ended up with just the black screen and found that the emotion was much stronger that way.
Filmmaker: Finally, now that the process is over, what new meanings has the film taken on for you? What did you discover in the footage that you might not have seen initially, and how does your final understanding of the film differ from the understanding that you began with?
Monberg: Since the film takes place in Russia, I have grown a curiousness towards this strange and multifaceted society. If there ever was a possibility, it would be a dream come true to have Pasha (our main character) show me around his home city of Karabash in the Ural mountains. I know this will probably not happen in any near future. As it is with a lot of projects that you dive into, you obtain a much more nuanced understanding of the matter at hand. Working on this project has given me unique insights into not only the current political reality of the country, but also the immense struggles of people living within this system. It is touching to experience our shared humanity that way.