Ms. Muratova, pouring some honey for her guests at her home in Bekirlija. With eight hungry mouths to feed, Hussein tries his hand at honey. [45], Grading Honeyland with four stars out of five, Ty Burr from The Boston Globe said the film's strongest point is that it serves as "both allegory and example, a symbolic tale about the importance of nature's balance and a specific story about these specific lives", and called Hatide "a figure for the ages". He elaborated, "a sensitivity to both petty human concerns and striking natural beauty is what makes Honeyland a particularly enthralling documentary. " " Unofficial audio for Hatidze's song "Cekor Po Cekor" SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE . And as humans, how could they ever not? The directors focused only on the visuals without making use of audio recordings or transcripts. One day, an . In the film, Nazife never leaves the house, but her wisdom guides her daughter at the time of crisis. Directors Tamara Kotevska Ljubomir Stefanov Writers Tamara Kotevska Ljubomir Stefanov Stars Hatidze Muratova Nazife Muratova Hussein Sam At her old home in Bekirlija, she proudly unveiled her latest bowl of liquid honey. Still, the transformation of Ms. Muratovas life is not necessarily something to mourn, Mr. Stefanov said. [16] Hatide and the nomad family were camera-shy at first but became used to the process as filming progressed. But theres another dimension to Hatidzes story that, for me, elevates the film above a simple fable about human greed. 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. "The love that she was keeping for a family of her own, that never came true, eventually went to the bees," says Kotevska. 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. The film was shot on a shoestring budget, but grossed a little over $1 million, and turned its makers into darlings of the documentary circuit. Nevertheless she still spends the bee season in her old village. This becomes clear in Honeyland, an exquisitely photographed documentary by Macedonian filmmakers Ljubomir Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska. We noticed you have an ad blocker on. Sign in In an interview with Anadolu Agency, Muratova told her story that begins in a poor rural village in North Macedonia, leading in Oscar nominees. This is the first of many surprises in Honeyland (2019), a documentary set in a rugged, barely inhabited region of Macedonia where an extraordinary woman named Hatidze maintains ancient traditions of wild beekeeping. When we met Hatidze and consequently everyone else you see in the film, we made sure to let them know that we will be nothing more than silent observers of their lives. Added Kotevska, That, for us, made it feel like we [were] watching a new film. 9 of 216. Now this place and these people are different, said a wistful Ljubomir Stefanov, one of the films two co-directors, sitting in Ms. Muratovas garden. Production with obstacles. Nell Minow: Directors Ljubo Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska show the same infinite patience and care in telling the story of their subject, a Macedonian beekeeper named Hatidze, that Hatidze shows in caring for her bees. But she refused a request to open up her hives, hidden in the crags of a nearby mountain, for fear the heat of the noon sun would harm the honeycombs. [52] It also appeared on twenty-three critics' year-end top-ten lists, ranking first in three of them. [48] Rating it with four stars out of five, Helen O'Hara of Empire magazine, summed up the film as "[s]tunningly beautiful and quietly powerful, this is a portrait of a vanishing way of life and of a determined woman who's just trying to make her way in the world". [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. Several environmental topics are explored, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and exploitation of natural resources. [34][35] The documentary includes numerous scenes of Hatide and her neighbors during the beekeeping process, including the handling of the apiaries where the bees are kept, the cutting of honeycombs and the collection of honey in jars. The lives of two Turkish beekeepers make for a riveting metaphor for environmental. (2019)/(),(),Honeyland. Honeyland focuses on Hatidze Muratova, a beekeeper from the Macedonian village of Bekirlija, and her traditional, environmental-friendly practices to sell the honey that she gathers from her bees. Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights. 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.. (Her last name, Muratova, is seen in the end credits.) Filming of Honeyland lasted three years, and 400 hours of footage was filmed. "When we came to editing, we spent a week or more just being completely stuck. For more information about the series, and a complete schedule, visit IDA. Like, for example, in the winter, when mother said there will be spring, something like that, was very [profound], he said. We stuck to our promise and we followed them as unobtrusively as possible for 3 years. When Hatidze went for a dress fitting for the Oscars in the North Macedonian capital Skopje, it took "20 minutes for her to walk 200 metres because so many people wanted to have a selfie with. The film chronicles the tensions betweenHatidze Muratova, a local beekeeper, and a farmer in the remote hamlet of Bekirlija. We dont understand Turkish. Both members of North Macedonias Turkish minority, Ms. Muratova, 56, and Mr. Sam, 70, have similar roots in rural poverty, but markedly different approaches to life. Hatide scolds Sam for ignoring her advice and her bee colony collapses. Its impossible! sighed Mr. Georgiev. The death of Hatidzes two sisters has tasked her with caring for her dying mother alone. The images in Honeyland are stunning.The film opens with images of a wide mountainous landscape, through which a tiny figure navigates. Honeyland's central character, Hatidze Muratowa, a traditional beekeeper in rural Macedonia is one such. She says nothing to the camera as she heads to a cliffside spot with no signs -- the directions are known only to her. We have no option but to cope with it somehow," said Georgiev, who also edited the film. 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. Honeyland received universal critical acclaim from film critics, who praised its attention to detail and applauded its conservationist message. She lives with her ailing mother in a shack in a deserted village, without electricity, void of every convenience. Film Crew Spent 3 Years in Remote Balkan Hamlet. [11][12] The project was also part of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation's program for preservation of North Macedonia's natural resources. The home she lives in was purchased for her by the documentary filmmakers after they won their first award at the Sarajevo film festival. Hatidze lives with her ailing mother in the mountains of Macedonia, making a living cultivating honey using ancient beekeeping traditions. [17][18], Starting in 2015, the documentary was filmed over three years and the final version was condensed from more than 400 hours of footage. Honeyland revolves around her work as a wild bee keeper, as she ekes out a living in the rugged parts of the Ovce Pole plateau. Scott hailed "Honeyland" as "nothing less than a found epic, a real-life environmental allegory and a stinging comedy about the age-old problem of inconsiderate neighbours.". Although initially reluctant to participate in the documentary, Hatide agreed to get involved to send a message of sustainable living to the world. Hatidze, star of the Oscar nominated Honeyland movie, gets a new house. [46] Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Sheri Linden called it an "unforgettable vrit character study and an intimate look at an endangered tradition". "We were doing it by instinct, and then as soon as we got the translations the plot was all there. [54] She also criticized the alleged romanticization and exploitation of the austere conditions of Hatides circumstance for the political message on sustainability, defining it a "morality tale about environmentalism and sustainability that borders on preaching.". honeyland.2019.1080p.web.h264-w4f.mkv. [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". Sundance 2023: Slashed Streaming Budgets and Theatrical Woes Won't Dampen Sales We really enjoyed making this comparison during the shooting.". What happened in the Ukraine helicopter crash? "Marriage . When Hatidze went for a dress fitting for the Oscars in the North Macedonian capital Skopje, it took "20 minutes for her to walk 200 metres because so many people wanted to have a selfie with. Hatide attended the event and performed two songs after receiving the award. [36] In North Macedonia, the film had its premiere at the MakeDox Festival in Kurumli An on 28 August 2019, which was attended by the film crew and Hatide, and included a concert by Foltin. So we can probably say that the bees brought us to her.. [25], The film's score was composed and performed by the Macedonian band Foltin under the musical supervision of Rana Eid from the production company DB Studios in Beirut, Lebanon. Scott from The New York Times praised the directors for "render[ing] the thick complexity of experience with poignant clarity" and called the film "quiet, intimate and intense, but touched with a breath of epic grandeur. "Half for me and half for you" is Hatidze's mantra, which she repeats as she tends to the bees on the mountain. In the film, she develops a special bond with one of the Sam boys. Honeyland is the first documentary to receive a nomination in both categories in the history of the Oscars. Her story is featured in "Honeyland," the first film ever to be nominated at the Oscars for both best documentary and best foreign language movie. So all the scenes with the dialogue, particularly, we didnt know whats going on there. [20] Josh Kupecki from the Austin Chronicle said Honeyland successfully depicts the way "capitalism functions even in the most rural areas". 1 movie of 2019. This leads to Sam's colonies attacking Hatide's during the resource-scarce winter. 2019 . The arrival of a nomadic familytrailer, shabby cattle, kittens, and a litter of children in towshatters Hatidzes serene world, and that tension sets the dramatic stakes of the film. ", Hatidze has travelled to Hollywood for the Oscars ceremony, and she has also been to several other film festivals, in places as far apart as New York, Switzerland, Sarajevo and Turkey. Inside the house, the taps were dry, so Mr. Georgiev called the mayor to reconnect the water. Shot over three years, this elegant film . But Kotevska's main impression of Los Angeles is: "From the tall buildings, I cannot see the stars.". She has survived for more than 50 years in the ruins of an abandoned village with no electricity or indoor plumbing, eking out her existence by journeying to the closest city to trade the honey for medicine and fruit. Honeyland contains elements of several documentary styles, including fly on the wall, direct cinema, and cinma vrit. "To be able to communicate with bees you need to have a personal strength to approach them, patience to learn how to tame them, and this way of life requires not force but wisdom," says Kotevska. 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