I would like to present to you a film made in my country.
And of course, it's about the bees :)
Honeyland was the first Macedonian documentary film to be nominated in the Academy Awards as an International Feature Film after "Before the Rain"-by dir. Milcho Mancevski 1994.
You can read about the many other awards online.
Honeyland has also been nominated in the Feature Documentary category.
The first film ever to be nominated for both Documentary and International Film categories.
The Honeyland is a wonderful story of a woman Atidze Muratova, the last female wild beekeeper in Europe who lives in an abandoned village and takes care of her mother.
Co-directors- Tamara Kotevska nad Ljubo Stefanov
TRAILER
The film was not even planned as such. The team was supposed to make a documentary about the preservation of natural resources.
But the life of Atidze Muratova became the main topic. Her gentleness, her love for the environment and people despite the hard life and not to mention her courage.
On the other side, there is a family that comes and tries to destroy everything she has been doing for years in a short time.
The film has great cinematography. It was shot without additional light. The way they live in their small room on the flame of a candle and the fire from the hearth.
I’m not going to talk about my favorite scenes. The whole movie is...
Atidze speaks 4-5 languages even though she lives alone in the wild, sings fantastically and I am delighted with her behavior in a completely different world from the one she is used to. As she once said, she always knew that she would become popular.
Honeyland was filmed for 3 years, all the scenes are true life. They worked on the montage for more than a year.
DIRECTORS’ STATEMENTMovie site
The HONEYLAND story began long before humans ever lived in the region, but our narrative starts with its last two remaining inhabitants: Hatidze and her mother Nazife. Just as worker bees spend their entire lives taking care of the queen bee which never leaves the hive, Hatidze has committed her own life to the care of her blind and paralyzed mother, unable to leave their ramshackle hut. The film is set in an unearthly land, unattached to a specific time and geography, unreachable by regular roads, and yet, only 20 km away from the nearest modern city.
If you haven’t watched the movie, you have my sincere recommendation. For days you will think about that story.
Source screenshot
Hey there!
Honeyland was one of the top 10 films of 2019. I loved the dramatic approach of the documentary, how the directors gave it that duality and how beautiful the shots were!
Thanks for the write up, mate. 👍
Thank you very much for the comment @notacinephile! Yes, photography is great. And when the movie ended, I couldn't believe it was so fast. This is a movie that must be watched in cinemas.
I was lucky to watch it at the Manaki brothers festival, with great sound. The guests were members of the team, and I could listen to their stories about the filming. There were even small packages of honey in the lobby that Atidze collects and everyone could try it.
Whoa, that's very cool! I'd love to try out that honey! You know, watching the film when Muratova was feeding honeycomb to her neighbors young boy, I was licking my lips, lol! Never have I wanted honeycomb so bad!
You're indeed lucky!
This sounds marvelous! Added to my watch list.
Very emotional and good and I'm sure you'll like the film and her character.