Film adaptation of Andrey Kurkov’s novel ‘Grey Bees’ released

The film narrates the story of two “childhood enemies,” the last residents of a small village who remain living in the “grey zone” near the front line. They try to organize their lives in this dangerous place, but everything falls apart when a Russian sniper appears in the village.

The film is based on the first part of Andrey Kurkov’s novel “Grey Bees.” It premiered at the main competition of the 53rd International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR).

The leading parts in the film were played by Viktor Zhdanov and Volodymyr Yamnenko. The director and screenwriter was Dmytro Moiseiev, and the producer was Ivanna Diadiura. The film was produced by Idas International Film with the support of the Ukrainian State Film Agency.

“This is truly a great film based on good literature and with a dramatic story behind its creation,” Natalka Vorozhbyt, film and theater director, wrote. “In February 2022, the team went on an expedition to the Luhansk oblast to film, in order to imitate the reality in which the protagonists live as closely as possible, and, as you can imagine, they got very close …

They had already been called and told to pack up and flee, that war was across the road, but the director and cameraman ignored them, because what kind of war is it when the scenery is so gorgeous? The day before the invasion, the producer managed to leave. They didn’t manage to shoot the whole film at that time, but they did manage to film the location, which soon found itself under occupation. But at least it was filmed, at least it was filmed … Cinematographer Vadym Ilkov saw it through the eyes of a person from Donetsk oblast; director Moiseiev, a master of atmosphere, preserved the sadness and sense of loss, because in good cinema, reality and art are blended.”

“Grey Bees” was published in 2018 by the Ukrainian publishing house Folio. It was translated into Ukrainian by Kateryna Isayenko and into English by Boris Dralyuk (Deep Vellum publishing house).

The novel was included in the shortlist of “BBC Books of the Year 2018” and, in addition to Ukrainian and English, it has been translated into German, French, and Danish. There are also performances of the same name, based on the book, in the theater on Podil in Kyiv.

Kurkov is a Ukrainian writer of Russian origin, a screenwriter, and the former president of PEN Ukraine. He is author of the novels and short stories “The Bickford Fuse”, “Friend of the Deceased”, “Death and the Penguin”, “The President’s Last Love”, “The Milkman in the Night”, “Jimi Hendrix Live in Lviv”, “Maidan Diaries”, and “Grey Bees”, as well as story books, children’s works, and film scripts. Kurkov’s works have been translated into more than 40 languages.

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Images: film shots

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