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“A Way to Capture the Spirit of the Times”: DP Pavel Talankin, Mr. Nobody Against Putin

A group of uniformed schoolchildren and their teacher pose for a photo.Still from Mr. Nobody Against Putin. Courtesy of Sundance Institute.

Pavel Talankin, a teacher at a small town in the Ural Mountains, found himself in an extraordinary situation when Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine led to the militarization of his school. He began filming his life and the changes around him, and that footage became the basis for Mr. Nobody Against Putin.

Mr. Nobody Against Putin will premiere as part of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival’s World Cinema Documentary Competition. Talankin, the film’s co-director and cinematographer, sheds some light on what spurred him to begin filming below.

See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here.

Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job?

Talankin: When I started working at a school, I had no professional experience with a camera. The only thing I had done was shoot video clips for school events, informational campaigns or other educational projects. At some point, I began to feel that I didn’t choose to make a film—it chose me. With the onset of the war in Ukraine, schools started receiving numerous requests and instructions to film, edit and quickly send materials. That became the starting point of my journey.

Filmmaker: Were there any specific influences on your cinematography, whether they be other films, or visual art, of photography, or something else?

Talankin: There wasn’t any significant influence from other works or creators on my style. I tend to admire almost everything I see, and I often feel inspired to replicate it. However, my lack of self-confidence would often stop me from fully realizing those ideas.

Filmmaker: What camera did you shoot on? Why did you choose the camera that you did? What lenses did you use?

Talankin: My camera is a Sony 6300. It’s a fairly simple camera, but over the years, it has become my true companion. One of the main challenges I faced was the overheating of the body during long shoots, as well as the screen’s lack of brightness, particularly in bright lighting conditions. Interestingly, the modest appearance of the camera worked in my favor: it didn’t look professional, and neither did I. This often helped people feel relaxed and natural in front of it.

Filmmaker: Describe your approach to lighting.

Talankin: I hardly ever used additional lighting. On rare occasions, I used two old lamps, but this was more of an exception than a rule.

Filmmaker: What was the most difficult scene to realize and why? And how did you do it?

Talankin: The most challenging scenes for me were the ones where I realized this was not just a recording for the Ministry of Education or for reporting purposes. It was something more—a way to capture the spirit of the times. This realization often paralyzed me: my hands would start trembling, my vision blurred and sweat poured down my forehead.

Filmmaker: Finally, describe the finishing of the film. How much of your look was “baked in” versus realized in the DI?

Talankin: I was fortunate that the director of the film, David Borenstein, was able to see some positive aspects in my (as I saw it) primitive filming style. There were few changes made to the visual style during post-production, either because it was too late to make changes or because the director accepted my work as it was. Nevertheless, knowing that some of the footage couldn’t be fixed often left me with a sense of regret.

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