DAU (2026)
Inspired by the physicists who built the Soviet atomic bomb, the film DAU follows a brilliant Greek-born physicist from 1928 through four tumultuous decades in the USSR. Driven to uncover the laws of the universe, the idealistic Dau is drawn into state service to help create one of history’s deadliest weapons. Inside a secret research institute, life is governed by scientific ambition, power, surveillance and privilege. As his autonomy erodes, Dau seeks freedom beyond his marriage through a succession of affairs, gradually losing both himself and his capacity to love. At once an intimate portrait of a man in pursuit of happiness and freedom and a vast fresco of a society founded on violence and ideology, DAU traces the small compromises that shape a life and alter the course of history.
Director: Ilya Khrzhanovsky
![]() |
Teodor Currentzis as Dau |
![]() |
Radmila Shegoleva as Nora |
![]() |
Anatoly Vasiliev as Anatoly Krupitsa |
![]() |
Vladimir Azhippo as Azhippo |
![]() |
Dmitri Tcherniakov as |
![]() |
Dmitry Cheglakov as |
![]() |
Demyan Kudryavstev as |
![]() |
Maria Nafpliotou as |
| Directing | Ilya Khrzhanovsky | Director |
| Writing | Ilya Khrzhanovsky | Writer |
| Writing | Susanne Marian | Writer |
| Writing | Vladimir Sorokin | Writer |
| Writing | Ilya Permyakov | Writer |
| Editing | Ilya Permyakov | Editor |
| Editing | Rob Myers | Editor |
| Camera | Jürgen Jürges | Director of Photography |
| Camera | Manuel Alberto Claro | Director of Photography |
| Camera | Lol Crawley | Director of Photography |
| Art | Denis Shibanov | Production Design |
| Art | Olga Gurevich | Production Design |
| Art | Boris Shapovalov | Production Design |
| Costume & Make-Up | Lyubov Mingazitinova | Costume Design |
| Costume & Make-Up | Irina Tsvetkova | Costume Design |
| Costume & Make-Up | Alexandra Timofeeva | Costume Design |
| Costume & Make-Up | Aleksandra Smolina-Rozanova | Costume Design |
| Costume & Make-Up | Stefania Graurogkayte | Costume Design |
| Costume & Make-Up | Elena Bekritskaya | Costume Design |
| Costume & Make-Up | Olga Bekritskaya | Costume Design |
| Sound | Kirill Vasilenko | Sound |
| Sound | Guillaume Bouchateau | Sound |
| Sound | Maksym Demydenko | Sound |
| Sound | Elena Gurvich | Sound |