FILM.UA has released a teaser trailer for ‘Grey Bees’, directed by Dmytro Moiseiev. The film will be released in Ukrainian cinemas on October 23
The film is based on the 2018 novel of the same name by Andrii Kurkov and tells the story of people living in eastern Ukraine amid the realities of war.
The title refers to the so-called ‘gray zone’ near the front line — a small village where the two main characters live. Two elderly men try to maintain their everyday lives despite rockets overhead and fighting nearby, but everything changes when a russian sniper arrives in the village.
The lead roles in ‘Grey Bees’ are played by Viktor Zhdanov (‘Homeward’, ‘To Catch the Kaidash’) and Volodymyr Yamnenko (‘The Wild Fields’, ‘A Friend of the Deceased’).
Dmytro Moiseiev began working on the film back in 2018–2019. Filming started in Vovchoiarivka near Siverskodonetsk in February 2022. According to the director, the shoot was interrupted just two days before russia’s full-scale invasion on February 24.
‘A couple of months later, I no longer saw the point in making this kind of film, but then I came up with a new ending. With the new ending, I found the strength to finish the film’, Dmytro Moiseiev explained.
The film’s world premiere took place in the Tiger Competition at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. In Ukraine, the film was awarded the Golden Duke at the Odesa International Film Festival, received a Special Mention at the Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival, and won the Kinokolo Awards for Best Feature Film.
