DAU

DAU is Khrzhanovskiy's second production and has been in development since 2006. It stands at the intersection of cinema, contemporary art, anthropology, architecture, and performance.

Rather than taking the shape of a single film, DAU unfolded as a long-term environment from which multiple films, serial forms, installations, and public events were later drawn.

DAU was developed as a major international co-production with the participation of Eurimages, Arte France Cinema, Coproduction Office, WDR/Arte, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Mitteldeutsche Medienforderung, Essential Filmproduktion, the Swedish Film Institute, Film i Vast, Plattform Produktion, the Hubert Bals Fund, and the Ukrainian State Film Agency.

In 2006, the project entered the official program of the Cannes Festival and was selected for the Atelier of the Festival de Cannes. During filming, around 700 hours of footage were shot on Fuji 35mm, eventually generating 14 feature films, 3 television series, video plays, and scientific films.

The first public release of the films took place in Paris in early 2019 with the support of the City Hall of Paris. The project occupied Theatre du Chatelet, Theatre de la Ville, and the Pompidou Centre, where the atmosphere of the DAU Institute was recreated as a 24-hour environment.

The films were voiced by Gerard Depardieu, Willem Dafoe, Isabelle Adjani, Fanny Ardant, Isabelle Huppert, Charlotte Rampling, Hanna Schygulla, Denis Lavant, and Blixa Bargeld. The broader Paris program also included contributions by Robert Del Naja, Brian Eno, Teodor Currentzis, musicAeterna, Arca, Sasha Waltz, and Philippe Parreno.

At different stages, the project involved Marina Abramovic, Carsten Holler, Rei Kawakubo, David Gross, Nikita Nekrasov, Boris Mikhailov, Peter Sellars, Romeo Castellucci, and Jonathan Littell, among others. In 2018, Comme des Garcons published a DAU photo volume as part of its annual artist book series.

Two films from the project, DAU. Natasha and DAU. Degeneration, were selected for the Berlinale in 2020. DAU. Natasha received the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution in cinematography, while DAU. Degeneration later received the Grand Prix at the Auteur Film Festival in Belgrade and an East-West Golden Arch prize for cinematography.

In 2022, Khrzhanovskiy received the Master Award at the Yerevan International Film Festival for outstanding achievement in film art. In 2025, he was the guest of honor of the Tribute To program at the Sarajevo Film Festival.