Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)

[Never Cursed]

Dau has screened at Venice to extremely polarized reviews: some critics (Peter Bradshaw) loved it, some (Siddhant Adlakha) thought it was a misfire, and some (Sonya Vseliubska) refused to even engage with it as a film and exclusively pilloried Khrzhanovsky for the various manipulations or purported abuses he committed during production. All make it sound like a mad, compelling experiment. Nanako Tsukidate didn't hate it, though, which is quite a strong endorsement.