DAU. Katya Tanya (2020) is a feature-length film directed by Jekaterina Oertel and Ilya Khrzhanovskiy, serving as a significant, albeit controversial, entry in the massive DAU cinematic project. The film shifts the project’s focus toward female subjectivity and the forbidden nature of queer relationships within the oppressive framework of a 1950s Soviet research institute. Narrative Plot and Setting
Set within the hyper-realistic, immersive world of "The Institute"—a reconstructed Soviet-era science center—the story follows Katya (Ekaterina Yuspina), a young librarian whose idealistic views on love are repeatedly crushed by a series of hollow affairs with men, including the scientist Dau himself.
A Shift to Tenderness: Amidst the cold and often violent atmosphere of the Institute, Katya finds a rare sense of connection and understanding with Tanya (Tatyana Polozhiy), a journalist.
The Conflict: Their burgeoning lesbian relationship represents a "domestic normalcy" that stands in direct opposition to the Institute's rigid social structures. DAU. Katya Tanya
The Intervention: The relationship is ultimately deemed "unacceptable for a Soviet woman" by the First Department (the state security services), leading to a harsh and tragic intervention that mirrors the systemic homophobia of the era. Themes and Critical Analysis
As one of the few entries in the DAU cycle to pass the Vito Russo Test for LGBTQ+ visibility, the film is frequently analyzed for its depiction of non-normative love in a totalitarian state.
The Grinding of Sand on Tiles…”: Forms of Female Subjectivity in “DAU. Katya Tanya” Narrative Plot and Setting Set within the hyper-realistic,
This concept focuses on the characters Katya and Tanya as researchers or subjects within the Institute, blending the project's signature retro-futuristic science vibe with interpersonal drama.
In the sprawling, controversial universe of Ilya Khrzhanovsky’s DAU project—a re-creation of a Stalin-era Soviet research institute populated by non-professional actors living under totalitarian conditions for years—most films feel like artifacts smuggled out of a crime scene. But DAU. Katya Tanya (2020) is different. It feels like the crime itself.
Directed by Jekaterina Oertel and Ilya Khrzhanovsky, Katya Tanya is perhaps the most accessible and yet the most viscerally disturbing entry in the 14-film cycle. Stripped of the abstract physics metaphors found in films like DAU. Nora Mother or DAU. The Conformist, this film presents a raw, claustrophobic two-hander. It asks a single, brutal question: What happens to intimacy when there are no rules, no privacy, and no escape? The Intervention : The relationship is ultimately deemed
Marina Kuklis delivers a performance that is almost unwatchable in its realism. Katya is not a villain in the theatrical sense; she is a gravitational pull. She swings from childlike vulnerability to sadistic verbal abuse with a speed that feels medically accurate. She demands Tanya leave, then blocks the door. She accuses Tanya of betrayal, then begs for her touch.
Lidiya Shumilova’s Tanya is the film’s broken heart. She is the "battered wife" of a non-marriage. Tanya has internalized the logic of the state: loyalty is survival. She cleans the apartment, mends Katya’s dress, and endures psychological torture with the stoicism of a woman who has no concept of "self" outside of her oppressor.
Gritty, observational, psychologically intense. Use close third-person sections alternating between Katya’s sensory-rich, reflective voice and Tanya’s terse, controlled perspective to highlight contrast.