Dau. Katya Tanya File

(2020) is a feature-length drama directed by Ilya Khrzhanovskiy and Jekaterina Oertel that serves as a vital chapter within the massive, controversial, and highly experimental DAU cinematic universe . Co-authored and directed by Jekaterina Oertel—the project’s only woman co-director—the film stands out by exploring themes of female subjectivity, queer romance, and emotional survival within the oppressive and closely monitored confines of a secret Soviet scientific facility.

One of its most striking artistic choices is the use of voiceover narration, a device found in only one other DAU film ( Degeneratsiia ). In Katya Tanya , this technique functions differently: it’s used not for grand moral pronouncements, but to allow the protagonist to voice her most private, vulnerable thoughts, effectively granting the viewer direct access to her mind. The academic article, "The Grinding of Sand on Tiles… Forms of Female Subjectivity in 'DAU. Katya Tanya'," argues that through this combination of voiceover, intimate framing, and symbolic action, the directors succeed for significant stretches of the film in crafting a meaningful "female gaze" and centering the "female subject-position"—a notable achievement within a project often criticized for its treatment of women.

(Radmila) is the young, emotionally volatile wife of a powerful, middle-aged scientist (Currentzis). She is an alcoholic teetering on the edge of psychosis, seeking affection through aggression. Tanya (Lidiya) is Katya’s elderly, silent mother-in-law, who shares the cramped apartment. Tanya is the domestic anchor—she cleans up the vomit, washes the glasses, and absorbs verbal abuse with a stoicism that feels both saintly and masochistic.

DAU. Katya Tanya (2020) is a divisive, 103-minute entry in Ilya Khrzhanovskiy's massive and controversial DAU project . Unlike the more brutal and visceral installments like Natasha , this film leans toward a melancholic, psychological melodrama focused on lesbian romance and female subjectivity under Soviet totalitarianism.

A fictionalized, top-secret Soviet Institute of Physics Problems during the 1950s Plot Synopsis: Love Against the Machinery of State Forms of Female Subjectivity in “DAU. Katya Tanya” DAU. Katya Tanya

: Some scholars and critics argue that the film successfully centers female subjectivity and provides a rare moment of "tenderness" in an otherwise machismo-driven, cold series.

Kross, E., Verduyn, P., Demiralp, E., Park, J., Lee, D. S., Lin, N., ... & Shablack, H. (2013). Facebook use predicts declines in subjective well-being in young adults. PLoS ONE, 8(8), e69832.

This article examines DAU. Katya Tanya not just as a piece of cinema, but as an aesthetic object that challenges the viewer's understanding of authenticity, gender politics, and the female experience under a totalitarian lens. 1. The Context: The DAU Project and The Institute

View of From Soviet Hairstyles to Contemporary Gender Politics (2020) is a feature-length drama directed by Ilya

DAU. Katya Tanya has received diverse, and often divided, reception.

However, the films themselves, including Katya Tanya , have been recognized for their artistic ambition and the unprecedented performances of their "amateur" cast. The film is part of a larger, sprawling narrative that includes other films such as DAU. Natasha , DAU. Nikita Tanya , and DAU. Sasha Valera . Conclusion

: Reviewers from Letterboxd note that this entry feels stylistically different—it uses non-diegetic music and faster editing, giving it a "half-baked melodrama" feel compared to the raw realism of other chapters.

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. In Katya Tanya , this technique functions differently:

[Katya's Romantic Disillusionment] │ ▼ [Intimate Bond with Tanya (Safe Haven)] │ ▼ [First Department / KGB Intervention] │ ▼ [Totalitarian Erasure of Identity] The DAU Production Methodology

★★★★☆ (4/5 - Masterful but excruciating) Streaming: Available on the DAU Cinema platform (Mubi previously held rights, check local listings). Similar films: Requiem for a Dream (psychological collapse), Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay (domestic dread), The Piano Teacher (eroticized suffering).

Of course, achieving a high DAU isn't without its challenges. Here are a few common hurdles:

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