"Kovan" ("The Hive"), a Turkish feature film that follows the story of a female beekeeper's struggle with nature, is set to premiere at the Zurich Film Festival this October.

Directed by Eylem Kaftan the film stars Meryem Uzerli, Feyyaz Duman, Hakan Karsak and Burcu Salihoğlu. It was selected by Switzerland’s most prestigious film festivals, including Locarno, Visions du Reel, Fribourg and Neuchatel. It'll now to greet audiences in the COVID-19 category of the Zurich Film Festival.

In an interview with Anadolu Agency (AA), Kaftan said the work, a joint production with Turkey's public broadcaster, TRT, was set to compete for the main prize at the Fribourg International Film Festival, however, the event was later canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The 16th Zurich Film Festival, which is set to begin on Sept. 24, has created a new competition category for films that were set to feature at canceled festivals, she said.

Director of the Fribourg Film Festival, Thierry Jobin, nominated "Kovan" to feature in this new category.

According to the Kaftan, Jobin was allowed to nominate one film and chose the one he fell in love with most – one documenting the life of a Turkish beekeeper.

For the director, having had her work selected for normalization-period audiences is partly symbolic and is a point of pride.

The Zurich Film Festival is a hub of activity in the industry and a place where promising directors and influential critics come together.