PARKLAND, Fla. — Thirty years ago, David Borenstein was a student at Riverglades Elementary School. On Sunday, he was on the world stage accepting an Academy Award for co-directing the documentary film “Mr. Nobody Against Putin.”
Most importantly, his mom was watching from her Parkland living room.
“Whenever they announced it, I had my doors open here, and I just ― of course, it’s not every day your son wins an Oscar ― and I just started screaming and screaming," Patti Borenstein said.
The documentary tells the story of a Russian elementary school teacher amid the conflict and how he witnesses his classroom get taken over by state-mandated pro-war propaganda.
David Borenstein was an all-state musician at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, then a Fulbright scholar at the University of Florida.
“David’s always been an overachiever in everything that he’s ever done,” Patti Borenstein said. “He went all the way up. He just couldn’t go any further.”
She added, “One of his middle school teachers said to me one day, because he was a very creative writer, ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if he won a Pulitzer.’”
Well, close enough.
Patti Borenstein said her son’s career was inspired by his father, Julius, who died a few years ago. She said she knows he’s looking down on him, beaming with pride.
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