DAU: Natasha and the split of Russian film critics

In the spring of 2020, a movie premiered during the Berlin Film Festival that eventually caused a conflict and a serious split amongst Russian film critics. That movie was DAU: Natasha, a result of 15 years of a secretive production, that utilised hundreds of actors and production crew. It was an attempt to authentically replicate the atmosphere of Soviet Union, by constructing the largest film set in Europe, where people lived and worked observing the rules of the historical reconstruction. DAU: Natasha was just one instalment from a series of films that resulted from the project, that are currently available to stream online.
After the festival screening, a group of Russian film critics wrote an open letter to Berlinale creative and executive directors, highlighting the alleged psychological and physical violence towards the film’s crew and cast, especially actresses. The letter was responded to, and soon the incident faded away. However, in Russia it resulted in controversy among film critics, which soon evolved into an ideological debate that ended with the split on those, who support the letter and who does not.
This study takes a closer look at the events that took place regarding the letter, DAU: Natasha, and the whole project in general and asks two questions: how and why did a single film manage to split Russian film critics? Additionally, the study evaluates the ramifications of the conflict, which are currently visible and perceptible. The research data includes the film itself, the letter, as well as several Facebook posts and interviews, where the key participants of the conflict shared their views. The study adopts feminist film theory, as well as postcolonial theory to analyse the film and its production. The qualitative content analysis is used for the textual data.
The findings reveal two significant reasons for the conflict. Firstly, the standards of film production significantly changed in recent years, especially after the MeToo movement and the case of Harvey Weinstein. This resulted in a strong interest towards the production aspect of DAU: Natasha, and the way the cast and crew, especially women, were treated. Secondly, Russian film critics had been partly avoiding the large global conversation that focuses on minorities rights and representation in film and film industry. However, DAU: Natasha, being a global sensation, but still a Russian film, brought this conversation to Russia and forced people to take their sides.
The conflict sparked by the film and the open letter brought the global socio-political conversations to the world of Russian film criticism at the cost of the significant and what seems as permanent split.