Director Dmytro Moiseyev's artistic film "Gray Bees" has been selected for the competition program of the 53rd Rotterdam International Film Festival, where the world premiere of the film will take place. This information was announced by the Ukrainian State Film Agency.

The film "Gray Bees," adapted from the novel of the same name by writer Andriy Kurkov, tells the story of two residents of the "gray zone" in eastern Ukraine—a small village surrounded by war. Two elderly neighbors lead a modest life, occasionally interacting, and overall try to establish their existence in a dangerous area. Their routine is disrupted when a Russian sniper appears in the village.

The main roles in the film are played by Viktor Zhdanov ("Vulkan," "Dodomy," "Nomyry," "Spymaty Kaidasha") and Volodymyr Yamnenko ("Dyke Pole," "Snih," "Nyukhach").

The director and screenplay author is Dmytro Moiseyev, the cinematographer is Vadym Ilkov, the production designer is Vladlen Oduvdenko, the costume designer is Volodymyr Kuznetsov, and the makeup artist is Tetiana Tatarenko. The casting director is Olga Klymenko, and the producer is Ivanna Dyadyura. The production is by "Idas International Film" with the support of the State Agency of Ukraine for Cinema. As reported by Ukrinform, filming started in the Luhansk region shortly before the full-scale invasion by Russia.

Andriy Kurkov's novel "Gray Bees" was published in Russian in 2018 by Folio Publishers, and later translated into Ukrainian by Kateryna Isaenko.

The novel made it to the list of the best books of 2022 according to The New Yorker. In English translation by Boris Dralyuk, the book won the National Book Critics Circle Award in the United States. Additionally, it won in the "Novels" category of the Quebec Booksellers' Prize and was published in Italy, where it received the 2022 Medici Prize for the best foreign work.

In December 2019, the premiere of a play based on Kurkov's book took place at the "Theatre on Podol" in Kyiv.

The Rotterdam International Film Festival takes place annually, using various cinemas in the city as festival venues. It was first held in June 1972 and is considered one of the most well-known and authoritative European film festivals, with a reputation for showcasing innovative films.