DAU with Sophie Pinkham

What this episode covers

Halloween Filmsuck! We interview Slavic languages scholar Sophie Pinkham, whose New Left Review piece “Nihilism for Oligarchs” got us interested in the scary, crazy, hard-to-classify set of Russian films called Dau. Financed by an oligarch, these films represent the efforts of thousands of mostly non-professional actors who spent years in period costumed, performing in character as oppressed Soviets living in an elaborate scientific institute set based on the one occupied by real-life physicist Lev Landau (nicknamed “Dau”). Lurid rumors of despotic directorial control, sexual assault, exploitation and animal cruelty have made these films highly controversial. You can watch the films here: https://www.dau.com/en And here is Sophie's article behind the paywall. Our patrons will get it in the pdf format. https://newleftreview.org/issues/II125/articles/sophie-pinkham-nihilism-for-oligarchs

Distinct summary based on available episode metadata or transcript content.