Ilya Andreyevich Khrzhanovsky (; born 11 August 1975) is a Russian-born filmmaker, producer and art director. His debut feature 4 (2004) won the Tiger Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
He is best known for the DAU project, a multidisciplinary undertaking at the intersection of cinema, art and anthropology that has yielded 14 feature films, three TV series and large-scale immersive installations; DAU premiered in 2019 in Paris at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Théâtre de la Ville and Centre Pompidou, and its films were selected for the Berlinale and Venice, alongside nominations for the European Film Awards.
From 2020 to 2023 he served as Artistic Director of the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center in Kyiv.
Early career Khrzhanovsky attended the Bonn Academy of Fine Arts (1992–1993)Theory&Practice Profiles and the All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography (1998) (VGIK).Dau ProfileDau: a never-ending experiment in a Soviet laboratory His directorial debut was the stage production of What I Feel () at the Kukart Festival at Peterhof in 1997.Ilya Khrzhanovsky profile
Career In 1998 he co-directed together with Artyom Mikhalkov the short movie Stop ().Ostanovka
Between 1998 and 2002, Khrzhanovsky worked as a director and producer in commercial advertising and created The List of Lovers of the RF for the Russian TNT Channel,List of Lovers of the RF a series directed by leading Russian movie directors. In 2003, the project was included in the Berlin International Film Festival programme,In New Russian Cinema the Berlinale is presenting a number of newcomers in Eastern European filmmaking as well as other notable Russian and international film festivals.
Khrzhanovsky directed the film 4 (2004) earning him several awards including a Golden Cactus and Tiger Award at the Rotterdam International Film Festival in the Netherlands, Best Director Prize at the Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema, Grand Jury Prize as Best New Director at the Seattle International Film Festival, Best Film and Best Camera Prize at the Transylvania International Film Festival, Best Director Prize at the Athens International Film Festival and a nomination for the Fassbinder Award. It was included in official programs of more than 50 international film festivals including Venice Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Los Angeles Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival and Tribeca Film Festival. 4 was distributed in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, the United States, and also Scandinavian and South Asian countries.IMDb profile
In 2005 Khrzhanovsky co-founded Phenomen Films production company.ООО ФЕНОМЕН ФИЛМЗ Phenomen Films developed and produced the critically acclaimed film Paper Soldier (2008) by Aleksei German Jr, that won among others the Silver Lion for Best Direction and Golden Osella for Best Cinematography,IMDB profile at the 65th Venice Film Festival. It was also nominated for European Cinematographer at the European Film Awards.Paper Soldier. Nominations and Awards
In 2009 Khrzhanovsky co-founded Phenomen-Ukraine and in 2010 co-founded Phenomen Berlin Filmproduktions GmbH (Germany).
In 2025, Khrzhanovsky co-founded IP Filmworks with producer Philippe Bober in France.
DAU project
DAU is a multidisciplinary project at the intersection of cinema, art and anthropology that premiered in Paris in 2019. DAU was initially conceived as a full-length feature film about the life of a genius in troubled times loosely based on the biography of the Soviet physicist and Nobel laureate Lev Landau (nicknamed Dau).DAU: Strange, Repellent, Mesmerising, AddictiveDau ProjectDau: a never-ending experiment in a Soviet laboratoryDAU Cinema ProjectDAU. Natasha review, Berlin Film Festival
However the filming process transformed into a 'total performance' and 'total installation' DAU Cinema Project rather than a conventional film shoot.
In 2008 in Kharkiv, Ukraine, the largest shooting location in Europe spanning 12,000m2, named the institute, was constructed as part of the project.About DAU How the location functioned and was used in the filming has suggested parallels between DAU and such projects as Synecdoche, New York and The Truman Show.Inside Dau, the 'Stalinist Truman Show': 'I had absolute freedom – until the KGB grabbed me'DAU. Natasha review – an exquisitely sinister study of Soviet oppressionAFTER 14 YEARS, ‘THE STALINIST ‘TRUMAN SHOW’’ HAS FINALLY ARRIVED
The auditions for DAU involved 392,000 non-actors.НАТАША»DAU. Natasha review, Berlin Film Festival Around 200-300 non-actors lived on-set at any one time DAU. NATASHA by Ilya Khrzhanovskiy, Jekaterina Oertel and around 400 were filmed including scientists, musicians, artists, composers, religious leaders and philosophers, as well as waitresses, cleaners, secret police officers, cooks and hairdressers.Dau: a never-ending experiment in a Soviet laboratoryApocalypse Dau: the most insane film shoot of all time, and why you may never get to see itDAU: Strange, Repellent, Mesmerising, AddictiveApocalypse Dau 40,000 costume units were produced and purchased during shooting.DAU. NATASHA by Ilya Khrzhanovskiy, Jekaterina OertelHow Khrzhanovskiy’s DAU was Tailored. An Interview with Costume Designers
The architecture, costumes, objects and food created a phantasmagorical reconstruction of the Soviet era of the 1930s to 1960s.Inside Dau, the 'Stalinist Truman Show': 'I had absolute freedom – until the KGB grabbed me'From Soviet Hairstyles to Contemporary Gender Politics. An Interview with Jekaterina Oertel, Head of Make-up and Hair Design, Participant, Co-Director, and Editor on the DAU ProjectHow Khrzhanovskiy’s DAU was Tailored. An Interview with Costume DesignersPearls before Swine. An Interview with Denis Shibanov, the Architect of DAUDAU: Outside and Beyond History The unscripted process was filmed intermittently from October 2009 to November 2011 during which no modern clothes including underwear, no modern sanitary products or any other modern objects or vocabulary were allowed on the set and period costume, make-up and hairstyles were required from everyone including the crew, regardless if shooting was occurring.DAU. NATASHA by Ilya Khrzhanovskiy, Jekaterina OertelInside Dau, the 'Stalinist Truman Show': 'I had absolute freedom – until the KGB grabbed me'The Movie Set That Ate ItselfAbout DAUIt Started as a Movie. As It Ballooned, Its Troubles Mounted With no script or takes, the characters acted and reacted in the meticulously designed circumstances, sometimes staying on set for months.DAU. NATASHA by Ilya Khrzhanovskiy, Jekaterina Oertel“DAU is a process” A Conversation with Director Ilya KhrzhanovskiyDAU. Natasha press conference: The bizarre alternate reality of the DAU projectInside Dau, the 'Stalinist Truman Show': 'I had absolute freedom – until the KGB grabbed me' Everyone, with the exception of Dau (conductor Teodor Currentzis), his wife (actress Radmila Schegoleva), their son (as young adult - musician Nikolai Voronov), and Krupitsa, director of the institute from 1938 to 1953 (theater director Anatoly Vasiliev), lived in the Institute under their own names. Their real biographies were adapted to Soviet realities.why you shouldn’t fear the unmissable DAU in Paris and LondonDAU. Alena ZoyaInside Dau, the 'Stalinist Truman Show': 'I had absolute freedom – until the KGB grabbed me' Among the employees and the guests of the Institute there were theoretical physicists, neuroscientists and biologists, including Profs. Nobel laureate David Gross, Fields Medal winner Shing-Tung Yau, Nikita Nekrasov, Dmitry Kaledin, Andrey Losev, Samson Shatashvili, Carlo Rovelli, Eric Verlinde, James H. Fallon, and media and performance contemporary artists including Marina Abramović, Carsten Höller, Boris Mikhailov, Peter Sellars, Romeo Castellucci, Alexei Blinov, Rav Steinsaltz, Peruvian shaman Guillermo Arévalo and others.DAU: Strange, Repellent, Mesmerising, AddictiveIt Started as a Movie. As It Ballooned, Its Troubles Mountedwhy you shouldn’t fear the unmissable DAU in Paris and London
The process resulted in 700 hours of 35mm film.DAU. NATASHA by Ilya Khrzhanovskiy, Jekaterina OertelAbout DAUDAU Cinema Project“DAU is a process” A Conversation with Director Ilya Khrzhanovskiy The final shoot cost more than €20 million. The project was financed by private investors; as of 2025, post-production was financed by Philippe Bober's Coproduction Office, other private investors and Khrzhanovsky's own money.
13 films of various genres edited from this material were part of the premiere in Paris in 2019.DAU PARIS 2019: PROJET IMMERSIF UNIQUE SIGNÉ ILYA KHRZHANOVSKYDau: a never-ending experiment in a Soviet laboratory The movies were voiced by Gérard Depardieu, Willem Dafoe, Isabelle Adjani, Fanny Ardant, Isabelle Huppert, Charlotte Rampling, Hanna Schygulla, Vicky Krieps, Jella Haase, Lars Eidinger, Blixa Bargeld, Denis Lavant, and others.Controversial Russian film and art project 'Dau' to finally launch in Paris (exclusive) The 'mother film' that focused on Dau's life story with the Institute being just one of the storylines yet to be released.“DAU is a process” A Conversation with Director Ilya KhrzhanovskiyApocalypse Dau: the most insane film shoot of all time, and why you may never get to see itInside Dau, the 'Stalinist Truman Show': 'I had absolute freedom – until the KGB grabbed me'
In August 2025, Khrzhanovsky announced that the main film, DAU, had been in post-production for two and a half years and was expected to be released in 2026, alongside two other features. He also confirmed that two TV series were being edited from the footage.
On 23 July 2026, DAU was announced as part of the competition line-up of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival (2–12 September 2026), selected by artistic director Alberto Barbera. Covering the four decades from 1928 to 1968, the film combines material shot between 2008 and 2011 with scenes filmed in 2024, and marks the first release of the project's long-announced 'main film', in which the Institute forms one storyline among several. It screens as a world premiere and competes for the Golden Lion before a jury chaired by Maggie Gyllenhaal.
In total, the material yielded 14 feature films, three TV series, video performances and scientific films.
The genre of the project is defined by critics as 'sprawling immersive-theater/film/installation',Soviet Time Warp in the Heart of Paris 'totalitarian reality show',Dau's Totalitarian Reality Show 'not just film or theatre but also of site-specific improvisational performances' With Newly Released Films "Dau" Hits Cruise Control and also as 'the entire culture of the 1930s-1960s'.«Язык — это главное противовирусное средство»
Apart from movie products, the project has additionally manifested in other formats such as books, conferences and complex installations.
Books Transcribed conversations of characters recorded during the shooting as well as off shooting were available at the Paris premiere.Илья Хржановский о проекте мемориала в Бабьем Яру: "Я умею рассказывать человеческие истории"Проект «Дау» в Париже: что это было?
Thames & Hudson prepared the publication of DAU Document,DAU Document collecting stills from all footage, on-set photographs shot with Soviet-era Leica cameras (selected from 1.5 million images) and results of the scientific experiments carried out in the film. Essays exploring themes such as the nature of community, power, love, altered states of consciousness and violence intersperse the visual chronological account. The final section catalogues the 80,000 items of period clothing and props as well as the characters who populate the project, where frames from all the footage are presented in chronological order.DAU Document