Films selected for the Series receive exclusive access to an audience of tastemakers and doc lovers during the important Awards campaigning season from September through November. Can you pitch in a few bucks to help fund Mother Jones' investigative journalism? [citation needed] In Australia and New Zealand, Honeyland was released by the production company Umbrella Films on 5 March 2020. It won three prizes at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for best documentary and best international feature at this years Academy Awards. We were very shocked to see this because it was obviously handmade, said Kotevska, and we started asking the locals around who they belonged to, who made them, and why. Hatidze deals out the honey in 'Honeyland' Honeyland is a deceptively sweet title for a documentary about a lonely life spent in a harsh, barren landscape. Film Crew Spent 3 Years in Remote Balkan Hamlet. Usually you dont interfere with your protagonists but as soon as we realized Honeyland would be very successful, we thought we had to do something.. "Honeyland" is a remarkable documentary, made over the course of three years.It won three awards at the Sundance Film Festival and follows Hatidze as she goes about her life. 2023 BBC. Honeyland chronicles a period of Hatidze's life when her ancient methods of beekeeping came up against, and conflicted with, those of a newcomer to her remote home region. The directors primarily focused on the visual aspects and wanted to portray humanity's balance with the ecosystem through Hatide, and consumerism and resource depletion through her neighbors. July 26, 2019 11:07 pm. She will continue to find happiness again and again as long as she lives.". [32] The documentary's producer Atanas Georgiev said the production team was "very eager" to send the message of sustainability to the citizens and the government of North Macedonia, and to prompt action to improve the country's air quality and reduce pollution.[33]. Guests Expected. One day, an . This leads to Sam's colonies attacking Hatide's during the resource-scarce winter. The surprise hit at Sundance, where it won three awards, including the World Cinema Documentary Grand Prize, Honeyland is a visually stunning human portrait that has something sweet for everyone. Honeyland is a film set in a remote land, where the people live in ways unfamiliar in the West. Hatidze Muratova, the star of the two Oscar nominated documentary movie Honeyland, is preparing for her trip to Hollywood. Now the filmmakers are struggling to disentangle themselves from their subjects. [28] They also set up a donation page supporting Hatide and the Sam kids on the film's website. When the Sam family arrives, she welcomes them with an open heart, and teaches them how to harvest the wild honey. Yet Mr. Georgiev has been anything but absent. Meanwhile, someone had pilfered Ms. Muratovas honey, and she blamed Mr. Sam. Hyperallergic speaks to the directors of the first film nominated for both the Best Documentary . And by all accounts, she is quite happy, according to filmmakers Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov. [5][6], On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Honeyland has an approval rating of 100% based on 124 reviews, and an average rating of 8.4/10. She is one of the last keepers of wild bees in Europe. What happened to Hatidze after Honeyland's opening sequence led Stefanov and Kotevska to devote three more years to filming her story and another year editing the four hundred hours of footage into eighty-five minutes. Kotevska says they were struck by how similar Hatidze was to a worker bee and how her mother resembled the queen bee. All Rights Reserved. A "Honeyland" foundation for her, the Sam family and the wider community, is up and running, with internet donors getting some of their wild "bio honey" in the post. Inside the house, the taps were dry, so Mr. Georgiev called the mayor to reconnect the water. And bees do fill the filmflitting in and out of the frame, stinging hapless neighbors, and alchemizing the harsh landscape into molten gold. [citation needed] In the UK, it was released on DVD and Blu-ray disc by Dogwoof on 24 February 2020; the disc includes deleted scenes and a theatrical trailer. "Honeyland" introduces us to Hatidze Muratova, a great character and a natural-born movie star. Kotevska says that the directors do not want to portray the Sam family as symbols of destruction, but merely as "the mirror to all of us who make bad decisions", based on the need to survive and provide. "honeyland," directed by tamara kotevska and ljubomir stefanov, is set in macedonia and follows the life of the region's last nomadic beekeeper hatide muratova, much of the film tracks the. Who was Ukrainian minister Denys Monastyrsky? [62][34] It is also the second Macedonian film to earn an Oscar nomination after Before the Rain (1994). "The Sam family that comes later are the other group of bees who are attacking the previous group of bees, which is Hatidze and her family. But theres another dimension to Hatidzes story that, for me, elevates the film above a simple fable about human greed. The crew of Honeyland spent years filming the day-to-day lives of Hatidze, her mother and her neighbors, and distilled all of their practices and chance encounters into a film just short of an hour and a half. But her quiet existence is fundamentally changed when the nomadic Sam family, consisting of parents with seven unruly children, a noisy vehicle and a large herd of cattle, moves into the village. 'Honeyland' is a pretty sweet documentary about a woman and her bees | Movie review Like many a good documentary, Honeyland takes us to a faraway land and culture in a way that reveals what is distinctive and what is universal about people. he, out of greed, breaks Honeyland's basic rule (take half of the honey, but leave half to the bees); she, the last female beehunter in Europe, is left to save the bees and restore natural . Read about our approach to external linking. Hatidze spent her time caring for both her bees and her mother, and with no spouse or children of her own, took some of the neighbor kids under her wing. During postproduction, the two became locked in a dispute about a communal well in Bekirlija. [22] David Ehlrich writing for IndieWire gave the film a B+ in his review, calling it "a bitter and mesmerically beautiful documentary that focuses on a single beekeeper as though our collective future hinges on the fragile relationship between her and the hives". [20] Kotevska said the most suitable description of the documentary's main theme is modern consumerism. In the film, she develops a special bond with one of the Sam boys. [19] Due to the remoteness of Bekirlija, the production team stayed there for three-to-four consecutive days before going to nearby towns for supplies and to recharge their filming equipment. The untouched nature of Hatidze's home couldn't be further away from the glitz and glamour of film festivals. [53], Dina Iordanova, an academic of world cinema at the University of St. Andrews criticized the directors' claim that the movie was not scripted or re-enacted and questioned the authenticity of the documentary in her review published in Docalogue. A conflict played out between human neighbours is also mirrored by the bees. Every time she has a new person coming to her door, she starts singing to them to break the ice. She also sings to the bees, a technique that appears to quell their stings. This principle is based on the customs and traditions of her grandfather, who taught her bees need to use their own honey to obtain enough energy to fly and mate. Hussein, his wife and the children all share the roles around the cattle. Scott, the co-chief film critic of The New York Times, named it the No. Sense of injustice lingers after Seoul Halloween crush, Chess gets a risqu makeover. Shes the only one remaining in this village to take care of her mother, because in the old tribe that she belongs to its a tradition that the last female takes care over the parents and doesnt have a family of her own, Kotevska. But the documentary doesnt teach us much about cultivating honey. Macedonian directors Tamara Kotevska and Ljubo Stefanov were researching in a remote mountainous area of the country for a short nature documentary. [40] According to the website's critical consensus, "Honeyland uses life in a remote village to offer an eye-opening perspective on experiences that should resonate even for audiences halfway around the world". For the film crew, said Ms. Muratova, it was more demanding to deal with us after the film than during the filming itself.. Related Honeyland received universal critical acclaim from film critics, who praised its attention to detail and applauded its conservationist message. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Watch Kotevska and Stefanovs IDA Q&A below. Its impossible! sighed Mr. Georgiev. We're a nonprofit (so it's tax-deductible), and reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget. The film depicts how Ms. Muratova and Hussein Sam, a seminomadic farmer tried to coexist in one of the poorest pockets of North Macedonia. Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! The first reaction to her was probably a shock. But Hatidze was longing for her own family. He takes all the honey from his own hives, but his bees respond to this by attacking Hatidze's hives, leading to their destruction, and a conflict between the human neighbours. Directors Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir Stefanov Starring Hatidze Muratova, Nazife Muratova, Hussein Sam Genres Drama, Documentary, Special Interest Subtitles None available Gender shouldn't be the topic of discussion. Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. The duo told the audience at the International Documentary Associations (IDA) annual screening series in Los Angeles they would sleep in tents in their protagonists backyard for three to four days at a time for three years, amassing hundreds of hours of footage they would then spend several months sorting through. They slept in tents and hammocks in front of Hatide's house. Finance came from a $25,000 grant awarded by San Francisco International Film Festival's documentary fund and three million Macedonian denars awarded by North Macedonia Film Agency. [7][8] Initially, Hatide maintains good relationships with the family and spends time playing with the children. Honeyland contains elements of several documentary styles, including fly on the wall, direct cinema, and cinma vrit. [14] Kotevska and Stefanov stated they tried to reflect the traditions of the region, according to which the last daughter has to take care of her parents until they die, prohibiting the daughter from marrying and establishing her own family. You can't miss her. Using prize money won by the film, he and his colleagues had found her a new house in Dorfulija, a larger and wealthier village about half an hours drive away. But the life that extends beyond the movie itself is still felt within it, still gestured toward and honored, by the close personal . But it has still connected with a worldwide audience through the protagonists' body language, relationships and emotions. Hatidze lives with her ailing mother in the mountains of Macedonia, making a living cultivating honey using ancient beekeeping traditions. All pictures from Honeyland (directors: Tamara Kotevska and Ljubo Stefanov) are NEON copyright, unless otherwise stated, From World of Warcraft to conducting the Oscars, Ukrainian ministers killed in helicopter crash, Zelensky addresses world leaders after deadly helicopter crash, 15 minutes to defend yourself against death penalty. This led them to Hatidze Muratova, one of Europe's last wild beekeepers, who uses ancient methods passed down through the generations for harvesting wild honey. Hatidze Muratova. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2023 demands. She herself lives in what amounts to a hole in the rock, a cave-like hut where she tends her ancient mother as gently and patiently as she tends her bees. Nominated for Oscars for both best documentary feature and best foreign film, it is a visual masterpiece, introducing its viewers to an incredible, particular life . "Not understanding Turkish was a problem during the shooting, but we decided to let them speak as they naturally would," says Kotevska. Beekeeper Hatidze Muratova leads the filmmakers to the very . Hatidze lives in a village that is close to her brother relatives. ", join us with a tax-deductible donation today. (and find out what happened to Hatidze). We were tasked to produce a short documentary about the area, built around an environmental topic. To lessen the pressure on himself in refereeing the relationship, Mr. Georgiev created a foundation that works with the families independently of the crew. Gently placing it into Nazife's hands, the old woman's ruined face (one eye has been destroyed by a wound or infection . She has been making a living by farming honey and selling it in the closest city for her whole life, following one simple, but crucial rule - take half the honey and leave the other half to the bees. In need of money, and inspired by Hatide's way of earning money, Sam takes an interest in wild beekeeping himself. It really says something important about the world," he added. . At its heart, this film is a character study, a meditation on the life of a woman who has carved out a precarious existence in an unforgiving place. But we decided to break that rule, said Atanas Georgiev, the films producer. [55], Honeyland received its first monetary award prize of 30,000 from the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation at the 2019 Sarajevo Film Festival in late August 2019. When an unruly family moves in next door, what at first seems like a balm for her solitude becomes a source of tension as they, too, want to practice beekeeping, while disregarding her advice. As observers, should they ever help their subjects? Fejmi Daut, one of the documentary's cinematographers, said the lack of electricity in the village meant the production crew relied on daylight, candles, gaslight and a fireplace to achieve desired image quality. The story that unfolds in "Honeyland" is such a perfect parable of our times as we fret over the planet, that the New York Times declared it "the best movie of the year". Hatidze Muratova, a Macedonian beekeeper who's at the heart of the film "Honeyland.". Their avarice, and the events that soon unfold, haveled many critics to praise the film as an allegory for the modern worlds impact on our most fragile ecosystems. (Her last name, Muratova, is seen in the end credits.) Calm and gentle, Ms. Muratova has a deep and respectful relationship with nature, treating her bees almost as collaborators. Those with more knowledge than I have of beekeeping may appreciate the details better, but the extra hardships that come to . It's us but for your ears. I think of an early shot of Hatidze sitting next to her mother in their dark, one-room home: she's gently lit, in her golden shirt . In one scene, one of the young sons is shown helping a cow give birth, while another boy attempts milking with his father nearby. We see her climb to a beehive that is hidden behind a large rock. There . [17][21] The filming technique has elements of direct cinema and cinma vrit. "Everything we've heard from Hatidze refers to bees. It was amazing," he said. "Everyone has to do the same work to survive. Ms. Muratova never married, while Mr. Sam and his wife, Ljutvie, have eight rambunctious children. Mr. Sam has a more haphazard way with his cows, viewing them almost as antagonists. [23] Austin Chronicle's Josh Kupecki said the documentary is ultimately a "broader impact of humanity (in all its messy glory), and a document of so many things: grief, loss, happiness, and joy". Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! And then she said that this is something she was thinking of a lot how to find a way to tell her story to the world. Honeyland has a strong ecological message, but it's the life story of the woman at the centre of the film that has struck a chord around the world. The film chronicles the tensions betweenHatidze Muratova, a local beekeeper, and a farmer in the remote hamlet of Bekirlija. One day, the Sam family, nomadic cattle farmers who speak the same archaic Turkish dialect as Haditze and her mother, install their caravan right next to the women's house. This gave us the power of the visual story that we made. [20] The production involved a crew of six: the two directors, two directors of photography, an editor, and a sound engineer. Hatidze Muratova, the subject of the award-winning documentary 'Honeyland.' Neon A woman walks down a dusty, sunbaked road. Hatidze spends her time caring for her bees which she keeps in the stone walls of old structures and in the rocks of cliffs instead of modern bee boxes and for her mother. Now the filmmakers find themselves unable to leave entirely serving as mediators to, and occasionally protagonists in, the local tensions to which they once only bore witness. We have no option but to cope with it somehow," said Georgiev, who also edited the film. While working on a short video commissioned by a nature conservancy project, the filmmakers met Hatidze Muratova, a middle-aged woman who ekes out a hardscrabble and solitary existence harvesting honey with ancient, sustainable methods across the craggy mountainous landscape of the former Yugoslav republic while caring for her half-blind and bedridden mother in a modest home without . Hatidze approaches a beehive on a cliff But her quiet existence is fundamentally changed when the nomadic Sam family, consisting of parents with seven unruly children, a noisy vehicle and a large. [20] She elaborated that Sam's initial hesitation to sell more honey than he could produce comes from the conflict between his moral values and "the pressures of society". Neon. Honeyland's central character, Hatidze Muratowa, a traditional beekeeper in rural Macedonia is one such. Due to its location in a secluded mountain, the village has no access to electricity and running water. Life is not an infinite process it has phases, he said. That scene where she's taking the honey, she's saying, "Half for me and half for you." That was . And Ljubomir Stefanov that appears to quell their stings cinema, and reader support up! Environmental topic the resource-scarce winter the Best documentary is hidden behind a large rock up a donation page supporting and! 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