Dau. Katya Tanya [exclusive] Jun 2026

Within the vast, shadowy architecture of the DAU project—a sprawling, decade-spanning cinematic universe built from 700 hours of footage in a full-scale reconstruction of a Stalin-era research institute— DAU. Katya Tanya emerges not as a grand spectacle, but as a quiet, intimate whisper of melancholy. For those uninitiated, DAU is the brainchild of visionary and notoriously polarizing Russian director Ilya Khrzhanovsky. What began as a planned biopic of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Lev Landau evolved into a multidisciplinary, "immersive social experiment." From 2009 to 2011, a cast of hundreds of non-professional actors lived, worked, and slept in a painstakingly recreated Soviet scientific facility in Kharkiv, Ukraine, their real lives and scripted interactions captured by a hidden network of cameras.

This is where the DAU project’s central ethical paradox becomes unbearable. Is this art, or is it abuse with a camera rolling? DAU. Katya Tanya

In the DAU universe, are not just characters; they are symbols of the collateral damage caused by genius and totalitarianism. Katya is the tragic victim of desire, while Tanya (Kora) is the survivor of institutional and marital oppression. Their stories form the emotional core of a project that is as fascinating as it is ethically disturbing. Within the vast, shadowy architecture of the DAU

(Tatyana Polozhiy): A journalist and sensitive companion to Katya. What began as a planned biopic of Nobel

As DAU continues to evolve and grow, it's clear that Katya and Tanya will remain at the forefront of this creative endeavor. Their work on DAU has been widely recognized, and their contributions to the project have been invaluable.

The film had its digital global release on , during the peak of the global COVID-19 pandemic. It offers an intense look at love, isolation, and state intervention inside a simulated Soviet ecosystem. The Narrative Arc: Love vs. Totalitarian Reality