Vasily Chistyukhin dreams of becoming the most famous and best-selling artist in the world—without connections, diplomas, or major achievements. For a year, he tries everything: filling out applications, attending exhibitions, searching for buyers, reading self-promotion books, and interviewing key figures in the Russian art scene—curators, artists, gallery owners... It seems all his efforts are in vain, but in his search for a formula for success, he discovers something more important.

"No Way" is more than just the diary of an unsuccessful artist, his hopes, disappointments, and endless struggle for recognition. It's a brutally frank journey behind the scenes of the Russian art market, as well as a universal story of the struggle with inner demons that confronts anyone who strives to advance but repeatedly slips on the banana peel of their own fears and doubts.