3 Russian-themed anti-war films make the Oscars shortlist
PARIS: Three films about Russian journalists and anti-Kremlin activists under President Vladimir Putin have been nominated for Oscars, in what critics said Wednesday sent a clear anti-war, anti-authoritarian message. David Borenstein’s Mr Nobody Against Putin, based on footage smuggled out of Russia, and American director Julia Loktev’s My Undesirable Friends: Part 1 – Last Air in Moscow were shortlisted in the Feature Documentary category. Borenstein’s film documents the sudden militarization of a secondary school in Russia’s Ural Mountains, using footage shot by the school’s coordinator and videographer, Pavel Talankin. Talankin left Russia with the hard drives of what would become
