“Mr. Nobody Against Putin”: Join Us for Screenings and Discussions Across Switzerland

Throughout November and December 2026, the Swiss documentary film festival Let’s Doc! is screening the powerful documentary Mr. Nobody Against Putin. Representatives of Future Russia – Switzerland will join post-screening discussions in German- and French-speaking cantons across the country. Come watch the film and talk with us about what resistance to propaganda and dictatorship looks like from the inside.

What can one person do when a school in a small town in the Urals is transformed before their eyes into a military barracks?

The documentary Mr. Nobody Against Putin is a gripping, inside chronicle filmed at great personal risk by Pavel (“Pasha”) Talankin, a teacher and school videographer in Karabash. Mandatory ideological lessons (“Conversations About Important Things”), marching drills, rewritten history textbooks, the militarization of teenagers, and the pervasive fear of denunciations—for over a year, Pavel quietly documented how the state apparatus breaks down a living school and forces both teachers and children to lead a double life. To get this footage out to the world, the filmmaker had to flee Russia, where state propaganda immediately branded him a “traitor.”

This autumn, the film comes to Swiss cinemas as part of the Let’s Doc! documentary film festival. The screening organizers have invited Future Russia – Switzerland (Verein Russland der Zukunft – Schweiz / La Russie du Futur – Suisse) to take part as guest speakers and panelists in post-screening audience discussions.

For us, these conversations go beyond cinema—they are about the reality facing thousands of families in Russia today:

• At public screenings in cinemas and cultural centers, we will discuss with audiences how Russia’s anti-war civil society continues to resist, why between 4,000 and 8,000 political prisoners are currently held in Russian prisons and pre-trial detention centers—including dozens of teachers, students, and parents—and how residents of Switzerland can help break their isolation through letters of solidarity and direct support.

• At special closed screenings for Swiss secondary schools and gymnasiums (in Langenthal, Lausanne/Pully, Bulle, and Zollikofen), we will speak with students and teachers about the ideological pressure facing their Russian peers (ages 12–18), why Russia lowered the age of criminal responsibility for political charges to 14, and why teenagers like Arseny Turbin and Lyubov Lizunova are serving prison sentences for speaking out against the war.

Schedule of Public Screenings Featuring Our Speakers

We warmly invite you, your Swiss friends, and your colleagues to attend the screenings and stay for the Q&A and discussion afterwards:

• 📍 Lucerne — Wednesday, November 11, 18:15

  Venue: Stattkino (Löwenplatz 11, 6004 Luzern)

  Discussion language: English (EN)

• 📍 Fribourg — Wednesday, November 11, 18:00

  Venue: Kino Korso

  Discussion language: French (FR)

• 📍 Neuchâtel — Monday, November 16, 18:00

  Venue: Espace culturel AMAR (Rue de la Coquemène 1, 2000 Neuchâtel)

  Discussion language: French (FR)

• 📍 Zurich — Wednesday, November 25, 18:00

  Venue: Arthouse Piccadilly (joint panel discussion with the Human Rights Film Festival Zurich and Amnesty International)

  Discussion language: German (DE)

Come to the Cinema and Bring Your Friends!

This film is one of the most honest, compelling, and human ways to show Swiss audiences what is happening inside Russia today—and why those who stand up against the war on Ukraine and Putin’s dictatorship need our solidarity.

👉 Tickets and the full screening schedule across Switzerland are available on the festival website: letsdoc.ch/de/films/mr-nobody-against-putin

We look forward to seeing you in the cinema! After each screening, you can learn how to join our upcoming letter-writing evenings for political prisoners in your city or a city near you.