The Katya Tanya sub-project aimed to explore the effects of long-term sensory deprivation on the human brain, focusing on the development of new forms of perception, cognition, and social interaction. The two women were placed in a shared isolation cell, where they lived for several years, with minimal contact with the outside world.
In the oppressive, hyperreal universe of Ilya Khrzhanovsky’s DAU , individuality is a luxury, and intimacy is often a transaction. Amidst the claustrophobic corridors of a secret Soviet institute, two female figures—Katya and Tanya—emerge not merely as characters but as emotional barometers for the system’s decay. While the project is vast and often deliberately inscrutable, the relationship between these two women reveals the central tension of the DAU experiment: the struggle between performance and authenticity, complicity and rebellion.
(Teodor Currentzis): The eccentric head of the Institute based on Lev Landau; he plays a peripheral role in this specific film. Nora (Radmila Shegoleva): Dau's wife.
Critically, the DAU project blurs the line between script and reality. The actresses (Radmila Shchegoleva as Katya and Marina Kleshcheva as Tanya) lived within their roles for years. Thus, the on-screen tension between Katya and Tanya feels painfully authentic: it is the friction of two souls trying to retain humanity while their environment demands they become cogs. Their conflicts—over a man, over a moral compromise, over a scrap of dignity—are microcosms of the larger Soviet tragedy. The system does not need to break them physically; it merely needs to ensure they never fully trust one another. DAU. Katya Tanya
DAU. Katya Tanya is one of the 14 feature films mined from this radical artistic upheaval. Co-directed by Khrzhanovsky and his long-time collaborator Jekaterina Oertel, and released online on May 15, 2020, this drama offers perhaps the most delicate, melancholic, and psychologically nuanced entry into the entire series. Shifting its gaze from the series' usual focus on sexual brutality and institutional terror, Katya Tanya instead examines the quiet erosion of the human spirit in an atmosphere of total surveillance, seen through the eyes of its two female protagonists.
Some have argued that the project was a manifestation of the Soviet Union's Cold War-era obsession with psychological warfare and mind control. Others have suggested that the experiment was a genuine scientific inquiry, aimed at understanding the human condition, but ultimately mishandled and poorly regulated.
| Character | Actor(s) | Role in Film | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | Ekaterina Yuspina (credited as librarian 1942-1947, head of library 1951-1953) | The protagonist, a young librarian navigating the brutal world of Soviet romance and bureaucracy. | | Tanya | Tatyana Polozhiy (credited as journalist, literary editor) | A journalist and Katya's colleague, who becomes her love interest. | | Dau | Teodor Currentzis | The institute's director and a central character in the DAU universe, who has a brief, dismissive affair with Katya. | | Nora | Radmila Shegoleva | Dau's long-suffering wife. | | The First Department | Various actors | The faceless enforcers of state security. | | Supporting Roles | Alexey Trifonov, Dmitry Kaledin, Andrey Losev | Various scientists, department heads, and bureaucrats that populate the institute's oppressive atmosphere. | The Katya Tanya sub-project aimed to explore the
Critics have rightly questioned the production. Actress Ekaterina Gulyanich has since stated that while she consented to the scene’s framework, the emotional toll was extreme. The film blurs the line between the fictional power dynamic (Tanya dominating Katya) and the real-world power dynamic (the director’s omnipotence over his performers).
While the plot seems straightforward, the film's power lies in its innovative cinematic language. A detailed academic analysis by scholar Rachel Morley highlights the film's focus on "female subjectivity". This means the film is primarily told from Katya's point of view, allowing us to experience her inner world and emotional state.
The DAU project, including the Katya Tanya sub-project, has been shrouded in controversy and criticism. Many have questioned the ethics of the experiment, citing concerns about the participants' informed consent, the potential long-term psychological damage, and the researchers' motives. Amidst the claustrophobic corridors of a secret Soviet
Some critics and academics, however, have offered deeper analyses. In her scholarly work, "The Grinding of Sand on Tiles…”, Rachel Morley provides a close reading of the film, arguing for its significance in exploring "forms of female subjectivity". The film's use of "impressionistic shots and elliptical editing" has been noted as a departure from the more raw, fly-on-the-wall style of other DAU entries, creating a uniquely subjective portrait of its protagonist's deteriorating mental state. Morley's analysis focuses on how the film uses cinematic language—through speaking, looking, and feeling—to express Katya's inner world, as well as how the directors represent both heterosexual and lesbian sex scenes.
What makes Katya Tanya distinct from a standard domestic drama is the meta-context of the DAU production itself. Reports of psychological manipulation on set—actors not allowed to leave character, real emotional and physical distress—echo the film’s content.