DAU (project)

DAU is a multidisciplinary project at the intersection of cinema, art, and anthropology, which had its premiere in Paris in early 2019.

DAU film
The project was initially conceived as a biopic on Soviet physicist and Nobel laureate Lev Landau (nicknamed Dau). In 2006, the film was co-produced by Philippe Bober and Susanne Marian (Essential Filmproduktion, Germany), Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg (Germany), WDR/Arte (Germany), Arte France Cinema (France), Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (Germany), Eurimages, Swedish Film Institute (Sweden), Film i Väst (Sweden), Hubert Bals Fund (Netherlands), Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and X Filme Creative Pool Entertainment GmbH (Germany). The funds provided by the Russian Ministry of Culture were returned. The first round of filming took place in Saint Petersburg and Kharkov. The film premiere will take place in the near future and will consist of separate events.

DAU Project
In conjunction with the development of the film, the DAU multimedia project was begun. Since 2007, thanks to the collaborative, financial and ideological support of philanthropist Serguei Adoniev, the project began to take new, unique forms, which it is now renowned for.

The Institute was built on the site of the former Dynamo Aquatic Stadium in Kharkov, Ukraine, occupying 12,000 m2. It became the largest film set in Europe. It became an alternate reality for nearly three years between 2009 and 2011. The project involved scientists, artists, musicians, philosophers, religious figures, mystics, as well as cooks, cleaners, nurses, hairdressers, and secret service agents, all of whom lived and worked at the Institute observing the rules of dynamic historical reconstruction for a period spanning from 1938 to 1968.

Cameras recorded the natural behavior of each character in circumstances set up by the director. Everyone, with the exception of Dau (portrayed by Teodor Currentzis), his wife (Radmila Schegoleva), their son (Nikolai Voronov) and Krupitsa, director of the Institute from 1938 to 1953 (Anatoly Vasiliev) lived in the Institute under their own names. Their biographies were adapted to the new Soviet reality. In total, 392,000 people were auditioned.

There were two departments at the DAU Institute: the theoretical department, where the actual theoretical physicists worked, and the experimental department staffed mostly by contemporary artists. Research into the quantum physics concepts of string theory and loop quantum gravity was carried out at the Institute. In addition to this, experiments were conducted in less conventional fields, such as orgone energy, teleportation, and superhuman abilities.

Ilya Khrzhanovsky's original idea of creating a film about Lev Landau has been transformed in a process of filming into a large-scale study of human nature, which continues to this day. At different stages of the project, contemporary artists Marina Abramović, Carsten Höller, Boris Mikhailov and Philippe Parreno amongst many others have been involved, as were stage and film directors Peter Sellars, Romeo Castellucci, Anatoly Vasiliev, designers including Rei Kawakubo, musicians Robert Del Naja (Massive Attack) and Brian Eno, and many more.

Filming
A distinctive feature of the filming location was that it was operational 24/7, regardless of the shooting schedule. The head camera operator of DAU, Jürgen Jürges, developed a unique lighting system that allowed to shoot without any lighting equipment. In November 2011, filming process ended, and the location was destroyed, which became a part of the plot. Remaining objects, small and large props, artifacts, and costumes were preserved and later reused in other contexts of DAU.

In the process of filming, 700 hours of material were captured in total, from which were created 14 feature films, 3 series, as well as video performances and scientific films.

Postproduction on the films ended in 2018. The movies were voiced by Gérard Depardieu, Willem Dafoe, Isabelle Adjani, Fanny Ardant, Isabelle Huppert, Charlotte Rampling, Iris Berben, Hanna Schygulla, Barbara Sukowa, Katharina Thalbach, Veronica Ferres, Heike Makatsch, Toni Garrn, Lilith Stangenberg, Kathrin Angerer, Palina Rojinski, Vicky Krieps, Jella Haase, Lars Eidinger, Martin Wuttke, Blixa Bargeld, Bela B, Bill Kaulitz, Tom Schilling, Marc Hosemann, Frederick Lau, Franz Rogowski, Louis Hofmann, Sven Marquardt, Tahar Rahim, Denis Lavant, Lou de Laâge, Éric Cantona, Pascal Greggory, Amira Casar.

Conferences
A series of conferences was organised in London in 2017, touching upon the wide range of cultural, social and political issues raised and brought to life in DAU. The following conferences took place:


 * "Import and export of the Russian revolution: ideological, political and communal exchange" (25–25 February 2017, London School of Economics and Science). Some of those who took part in the conference were prof. Teodor Shanin, prof. Alexander Etkind, prof. Mark Steinberg, prof. Simon Dixon, prof. John Butler, prof. Erik van Raaij, prof. Viktoria Zhuravleva, prof. David Wolf and others.
 * "The protagonists of political mythology: how do individuals and collectives enter into history?" (25–26 March 2017, House of Commons, Parliament of the United Kingdom, University of Westminster), with the participation of the first president of Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk, the first state secretary of Russia Gennady Burbulis, the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Belarus Stanislav Shushkevich, the UK Ambassador to USSR Sir Roderick Braithwaite, the West German Ambassador to USSR Andreas Mayer Landrut, prof. Robert Service, prof. Linda Cook, prof. Mark Fenster, prof. Judith Pallot and others.
 * "The experience of extremism: faith, violence and liberation movements" (24–26 May 2017, House of Lords, Parliament of the United Kingdom, London Royal Society), with the participation of the former Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom Sir Michael David Jackson, Representative of the Government of Autonomous Kurdistan His Excellency Karvan Jamal Tahir, colonel Vladimir Azhippo, prof. James Fallon, members of the international tribunal from former Yugoslavia Marko Sladojević (Serbia), Amir Cengic (Bosnia), and Davor Laznic (Croatia), former publicity director at Sinn Féin Danny Morrison (Northern Ireland).

Release in Paris
Films created from the material filmed at the Institute were released for the first time in Paris between January 25 and February 17, 2019 with the support of the City Hall of Paris, and Executive Producer Martine d'Anglejan-Chatillon.

The immersion into the world of DAU took place in two Parisian theaters, Théâtre du Châtelet and Théâtre de la Ville, during a period of simultaneous renovation. Moreover, at the Pompidou Centre, the atmosphere of the DAU Institute was recreated with an installation featuring various characters from the project, who lived within the artwork, 24 hours per day. To visit the DAU project, visitors were required to obtain a DAU-visa.

Within the theatres, round-the-clock public screenings of the films were accompanied by individual conversations by members of the audience with "active listeners", among which were priests, pastors, rabbis, as well as social workers and doctors. Conferences, performances, concerts, and shamanic rituals were held at both theatres. It was impossible to learn about them in advance. Instead of offering a guided experience, the principle of uncertainty and the constant metamorphosis brought visitors into unexpected encounters—a core characteristic of the DAU project. In accordance with this principle and as part of the project, performances by renowned musicians were held incognito, without posters or ads.

During Paris events, Théâtre du Châtelet and Théâtre de la Ville hosted Teodor Currentzis and MusicAeterna, Jazz Aeterna and TrigolOS, musicians Mikhail Rudy, Tatiana Grindenko, Vladimir Martynov, Vladimir Tarasov, Leonid Fyodorov, Mikhail Mordvinov, Dmitry Uvarov, Vladimir Volkov, singer Sergey Starostin, opera singer Ekaterina Shcherbachenko, musicians Vangelino Currentzis, Marko Nikodievich, singer and performer Arca, Robert Del Naja (Massive Attack), and Brian Eno, who developed a bespoke acoustic architecture for DAU. Also, performances of Sasha Waltz and her dance troupe, as well as installations of Romeo Castellucci and Philippe Parreno took place in different DAU spaces. Writer Jonathan Littell, futurologist Real Miller, professor of physics and string theorist Nikita Nekrasov, writer and social critic Evgeny Morozov, photographer Reza Deghati, biophysicist prof. Sonia Contera, writer Alexander Etkind, and others took part in the DAU conferences in Paris.

According to preliminary estimates, in the period from January 25 to February 17, 2019 in Paris, around forty thousand people visited DAU project venues.

Criticism of the project
Criticism of the project predominantly relates to issues of transparency, work ethics and respect for the rights of DAU participants. Critical accounts mostly contain references to the testimonies of participants involved for only a short time. Neither of participants nor creators of the DAU material shown at the Paris premiere criticised the project. Criticism in regards of the filming of children with Down syndrome, in particular, was refuted by the director and the press service of the project. In addition, the project has spawned discussions about the limits of what is permissible in cinema. The project team has filed a lawsuit in relation to material published by Le Monde, which allegedly quoted some of the participants.

Future of the project
In the future, the project will continue to exist on the DAU Digital platform, available online. The release of the feature film "Dau" is scheduled for the second half of 2019 or first half of 2020. Details to be confirmed.

Production team
Ilya Khrzhanovsky – director Serguei Adoniev – chief producer Jürgen Jürges – director of photography, lighting designer Manuel Alberto Claro – Saint Petersburg unit operator Denis Shibanov – project art director Boris Shapovalov – art director of the Saint Petersburg unit Olga Gurevich – art director of the Kharkov unit Jekaterina Oertel – makeup artist Maxim Demidenko – head of technical and sound production department Anastasia Smekalova – casting director Alexey Slyusarchuk, Vera Levchenko, Inna Shorr – second directors at the site Volker Gläser – the second camera Jörg Gruber – first assistant operator, third camera Michael Siebert – focus-puller, first assistant operator Yevgeny Kravchynia – art assistant Arina Galantseva – art assistant Alexander Mordovin – art assistant Elena Shmakova – assistant art director for props Julia Zelenaya – assistant sound engineer Alexandra Timofeeva – head of the costume department, executive producer Irina Tsvetkova, Elena and Olga Bekritskie, Lyubov Mingazitdinova, Alexandra Smolina - costume designers Susanne Marian – producer Philippe Bober – film producer Svetlana Dragayeva – executive producer Artem Vasiliev – producer of the preparation and filming of the Saint Petersburg and Kharkov units

Participants of DAU project
Teodor Currentzis – Dau Radmila Schegoleva – Nora Anatoli Vassiliev – Krupitsa Alexey Trifonov Alexei Blinov Dmitry Kaledin Olga Shkabarnya Nikita Nekrasov Vladimir Agippo Fedor Sofronov Andrey Losev Daria Berzhitskaya Natalya Berezhnaya Ekaterina Yuspina Tatyana Polozhiy Valery Andreev Alexander Bozhik Tatyana Pyatina Zoya Popova Nikolai Voronov – Denis Anna Volkova Victoria Skitskaya Samson Shatashvili Maria Nafpliotou Maria Shtilmark Alina Alekseeva Konstantin Leshan Anatoly Sidko Maxim Martsinkevich Kristina Babich Vladimir Ermolenko Pavel Gordienko Alexander Serdyuk Lydia Schegoleva James H. Fallon Luc Bigé Marina Abramovic Romeo Castellucci Boris Mikhailov David Gross Shing-Tung Yau Guillermo Arevalo Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz Carsten Höller Peter Sellars Tatiana Grindenko Vladimir Martynov Leonid Fedorov Vladimir Volkov Herman Karelsky Vyacheslav Cheltuev

Authors and editing directors of feature films
Jekaterina Oertel Ilya Permyakov Anatoli Vasiliev Aleksey Slusarchuk