“Rayskiye Ptitsy” /Birds of Paradise/, a new film by Roman Balayan, will participate in the main contest of XXX Moscow International Film Festival, which takes place in the capital of Russia from 19 till 28 June. The film is produced by Oleh Kohan, its budget amounted to UAH 17 m ($ 3.5 m).

The script of the psychological drama “Rayskiye Ptitsy” was written by Rustam Ibrahimbekov after Dmitry Savitsky’s works. The film was shor by Roman Balayan (“Ledi Makbet Mtsenskogo uyezda” /Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District/, “Kashtanka”, “Pervaya Lyubov” /Young Love/). The film stars Andrey Kuzichev, Oksana Akinshina, Oleg Yankovsky, Yehor Pazenko and Serhiy Romanyuk.   

Moscow International Film Festival (abbreviated as MIFF) is the second oldest festival in the world, after the Venice Film  Festival. It was first held in Moscow in 1935. From 1959 to 1995 it was held every second year in July, alternating with the Karlovy Vary Festival. The festival has been held annually since 1995. The festival's top prize is the statue of Saint George slaying the dragon, as represented on the Coat of Arms of Moscow. Federico Fellini's 8½ is the most famous film to premiere at the MIFF and win the top prize. Nikita Mikhalkov has been the festival's president since 2000. The Stanislavsky Award has been introduced recently to be presented to outstanding actors visiting the festival, such as Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep.

Sota Cinema Group is a cinema company headed by Oleh Kohan.