Two films present soldiers’ and a teacher’s perspectives of the Russian-Ukrainian war

PARK CITY, Utah — ‘2000 Meters to Andriivka’ and ‘Mr. Nobody Against Putin’ compete against each other in the World Cinema Documentary competition. The Oscar-winning director of ’20 Days in Mariupol’, Mstyslav Chernov, returns to the Sundance Film Festival with his second documentary on the war in Ukraine, this time from a deeply embedded soldier perspective. Director David Borenstein and Co-Director Pasha Talankin present events as they unfold in the Russian town of Karabash focusing on changes in the Karabash Primary School from before the war breaks out until June 2024.

‘Mr. Nobody Against Putin’ defies new laws instated in Russia as they were filming

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Pasha Talankin had already submitted enough film to David Borenstein for him to cut a 30-minute movie. They coordinated the filming via weekly phone calls. When they started, Russia had no traitor law and no treason law. Each time a new law went into effect, they evaluated whether they could continue the project. Pasha wanted to continue. In my interview with David Borenstein, he said that since coming to the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, the film feels a lot less dated. “If he (Pasha) thinks he can do it, then why am I so jaded. Why can’t I do anything in America?”

When I asked Producer Helle Faber from Denmark how Pasha Talankin was able to film so many different activities, she explained, “He was the event coordinator and already filmed everything.” He was “undercover openly”.

Pasha Talankin is from Russia’s industrial heartland, in fact, it’s the most toxic place in Russia with an average life expectancy of 38 years. When Russia instated a new federal education policy and changed the political curriculum to include patriotic songs, speeches and marching he grew concerned and upset. This documentary film shows how the town Talankin loves was transformed into a supply chain for soldiers.

In ‘2000 Meters to Andriivka’ the audience experiences war from the trenches

“If you know why you are doing something, you can go through this… a near-death experience requires a lot of trust,” explains director Mstyslav Chernov. He says, “war has changed. We got to work with dozens of hours of archives, hundreds of hours of GoPro and drone footage.”

These soldiers fought and died to regain Andriivka, to place a flag to reclaim it for Ukraine. “I want this film to be a flag those soldiers set. That flag cannot be taken down.” We are told the names of the soldiers, attend a funeral and watch quite a few of them die. “Things are not fine,” notes Chernov.

He is filming this war to make sure the truth is told. “I want to put a brick in the house that we call history.”