The film follows (played by professional model Ekaterina Yuspina), a young librarian at the Institute who is a romantic idealist. After a series of disillusioning encounters with men, she finds a deep, tender connection with her colleague, a journalist named Tanya (Tatyana Polozhiy). Key thematic elements include:
🧐The lead role of Katya in DAU. Katya Tanya was played by professional model Yuspina Kateryna , not a trained actress. Director Ilya Khrzhanovskiy reportedly wanted to "make a suitcase out of her" visually—using padding and specific costumes to change her physical presence and help her "feel" like a different person within the Institute. DAU. Katya Tanya
Thousands of participants—scientists, artists, Nobel laureates, and real-life street cleaners—were recruited to live inside this simulation 24/7. They wore period-accurate clothing, ate Soviet food, spoke in the dialect of the era, and were subjected to the paranoid hierarchies of Soviet bureaucracy. There was no script, only a premise: you live here, under the watchful eye of the State. The film follows (played by professional model Ekaterina
The keyword “DAU. Katya Tanya” has become a search beacon for film aficionados and critics trying to understand the project’s core thesis: the fusion of performance and reality until the distinction vanishes. Katya Tanya was played by professional model Yuspina
If Katya represents the bureaucracy, Tanya (often portrayed by the actress Tatyana Paukhova) represents the chaotic, human element. Tanya is frequently depicted as part of the support staff—the waitresses, the cleaners, the nurses who kept the Institute running.