John Sloss Is More Hopeful About the Sundance Film Market Than You Might Think, The Oscar Race for Best Picture Has Three Frontrunners as Voting Closes Tuesday, How RRR and Glass Onion Are Trying to Hack the Best Picture Oscar Race, Whered the Color Go? After another year editing, their first feature film was born. All Rights Reserved. Honeyland is a film set in a remote land, where the people live in ways unfamiliar in the West. But Kotevska says that there was never any need for negotiation; from the first time she encountered the filmmakers, Hatidze wanted to get her story out to the world. By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from Mother Jones and our partners. They also planned to follow the natural change of the river's flow that takes place every ten years. The IDA Documentary Screening Series brings some of the years most acclaimed documentary films to the IDA community and members of industry guilds and organizations. [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. 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. Kotevska says there were many other disadvantages from the beginning of the shooting but most of them ended up working out well. Hatidze Muratova, a Macedonian beekeeper who's at the heart of the film "Honeyland.". [42] In a separate year-end review, Scott and Manohla Dargis of the same newspaper named Honeyland the best film of 2019, and called it "nothing less than a found epic". crafted from more than 400 (!) And the complexities of this transition created a clash between the filmmakers professional duties as cleareyed observers and their subjects emotional expectations of them as humans and friends. [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". [23][24] According to Kotevska and Stefanov, during filming they mainly relied on visual observations of their subjects, whose language they did not understand. Hatidze Muratova,a beekeeper and the star of Honeyland, at her home in the remote mountain village of Bekirlija in North Macedonia. [26], Honeyland was ranked as the third-best documentary and twelfth-best foreign film of 2019 in a survey of over 300 critics around the world conducted by IndieWire. 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. When he and the two directors visited in July, they were immediately overwhelmed by a new barrage of issues. So she was very happy to participate in this. [63] Matilda Coleman of The New York Times dubbed the movie an "Oscar game changer" and stated with its two nominations, it paved the way for more success of the documentary genre in future Academy Award nominations. The shoot lasted three years, with co-directors Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov camping in the village with their cameramen until their batteries would run out -- since there was no electricity for miles. Culture 06.02.2020 / 14:39. [20] Josh Kupecki from the Austin Chronicle said Honeyland successfully depicts the way "capitalism functions even in the most rural areas". Hatidze first appears on a dangerous cliff edge wearing no protective mask, a cloud of bees swarming as she removes honeycomb from a hive in rocks. 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. That was largely thanks to Mr. Stefanov and his fellow filmmakers. However, after learning about Hatidze from their time spent in the local area, this plan soon developed into a three year stay documenting Hatdidze's unique way of life and her interaction with those . [46] Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Sheri Linden called it an "unforgettable vrit character study and an intimate look at an endangered tradition". , One of Europe's Last Wild Beekeepers Fights Environmental and Economic Hardships. According to Kotevska, they wanted to make sure the movie's narrative is completely understandable even if it is followed visually. [31] Rating it with three stars out of four, Michael O'Sullivan from The Washington Post said despite the worthwhile patience it requires from viewers, the film "sneaks up on you in a quiet yet powerful way". The situation depicted in Honeyland is one in which the inept neighbours arriving with their cattle soon add beekeeping to their livelihood but do so in ways that put profits first and come to threaten Hatidze's bees. You can see how unjust life was to her, because shes the greatest extrovert and artist youll ever meet, and yet shes trapped all her life in this abandoned area, and given the burden to take care of her mother, Kotevska said. The film chronicles the tensions betweenHatidze Muratova, a local beekeeper, and a farmer in the remote hamlet of Bekirlija. [61], On 13 January 2020, Honeyland received nominations in the categories for Best Documentary Feature and Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards; it was the first documentary in the history of the Oscars to receive a nomination in the both categories. 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. She is one of the last keepers of wild bees in Europe. 8.0 1 h 29 min 2019 NR Haditze Muratova, the last of the Macedonian wild beekeepers, sees her peaceful existence threatened by the arrival of her new neighbors. Despite his initial success, one of Sam's customers demands more honey than his bees can produce. Shot over three years, this elegant film . In Honeyland, Hatidze's echo of paradise is most certainly lost. They noticed beehives behind a rock on the mountain where they were filming. "Not understanding Turkish was a problem during the shooting, but we decided to let them speak as they naturally would," says Kotevska. [22] David Fear writing for Rolling Stone viewed it as a documentary that portrays "rural regionalism and lost art forms", also saying the directors ensured viewers are immersed in Hatide's way of living during the first half of the movie so they realize what is being lost during the latter half. 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. A woman walks alone through the untamed mountains and hills of Macedonia. It really says something important about the world," he added. ", 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. But Kotevska's main impression of Los Angeles is: "From the tall buildings, I cannot see the stars.". Log in to Reply. [14] Upon arriving at the location, the film crew was introduced to Hatide. So we can probably say that the bees brought us to her.. And this is how we came to it. And by all accounts, she is quite happy, according to filmmakers Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov. Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. This was the most powerful sentence," he said. 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. Nazife says she did not turn them down, but Hatidze's late father did. Self: Honeyland. Kotevska says that many people assume that she, as a woman, was the one who was closer to Hatidze, and Stefanov with the boys from the other family. "Everything we've heard from Hatidze refers to bees. "Marriage . Calm and gentle, Ms. Muratova has a deep and respectful relationship with nature, treating her bees almost as collaborators. But she wasnt shy, and eventually allowed Kotevska and Stefanov to film her. This approach was followed during the post-production stages and the first six months of the rough cut, which together lasted approximately 12 months. [19] Michael O'Sullivan from The Washington Post also found a prominent, cautionary message about the consequences of disrupting the universe's equilibrium. "We were doing it by instinct, and then as soon as we got the translations the plot was all there. But the life that extends beyond the movie itself is still felt within it, still gestured toward and honored, by the close personal . This is exemplified when she chants "half for me, half for you" to her bees when collecting honey. Complicating matters: They didn't speak Turkish, the preferred language of the film's main subjects both Hatidze and her new neighbors who moved in a few months into the shoot and disrupted her. She does not get stung, the bees seem to trust her. 2023 BBC. honeyland.2019.1080p.web.h264-w4f.mkv. Its distributor Neon gave it a theatrical release in the United States, opening on 26 July 2019. Hatidze Muratova, a 50-something woman, is, along with her ill mother Nazife, the last true resident of their rural village. The death of Hatidzes two sisters has tasked her with caring for her dying mother alone. Given her exceptionally poor living conditions in the nearly deserted hamlet of Bekirlija, Hatidze would often say that her main wish, out of her newfound fame, is to move to a better house in the near-by village of Dorfulija which offers far better living standards. So all the scenes with the dialogue, particularly, we didnt know whats going on there. When the rules are broken, everyone pays the price. Hatidze shares honey with one of the Sam boys, Hatidze with members of the Sam family, including Hussein (right), Honeyland directors Tamara Kotevska and Ljubo Stefanov at an Oscar week event, North Macedonia mountains where Hatidze lives, Pictures can speak more loudly than words, Neon lights cannot match North Macedonia stars, Jeremy Renner TV show poster edited after accident, 15 minutes to defend yourself against the death penalty, Maximum two drinks a week, Canada guidance advises, Keep cake away from office, says food adviser, US porn star declared unfit for sex crimes trial, Iran man who beheaded wife jailed for eight years, Polar bear kills woman and boy in Alaska village, World's oldest person, Sister Andr, dies aged 118. After Hollywood, she will head there again in the spring and watch the stars from her little stone hut. 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. It's a poem including history"[19] and listed the film as best pick for 2019. Dan on January 31, 2020 at 11:01 am . 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. [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. Now the filmmakers are struggling to disentangle themselves from their subjects. 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. 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. 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. Given her exceptionally poor living conditions in the nearly deserted hamlet of Bekirlija, Hatidze would often say that her main wish, out of her newfound fame, is to move to a better house in the near-by village of Dorfulija which offers far better living standards. Hatidze Muratova, the star of the two Oscar nominated documentary movie Honeyland, is preparing for her trip to Hollywood. In the film, relations between Ms. Muratova and Mr. Sam were bad; Mr. Sam ignored Ms. Muratovas advice about how to start his own bee colony, leading his bees to attack hers and ruining Ms. Muratovas entire livelihood. In fact it was the other way round. [25][26] The camerawork, which is steady during the first half of the movie, later becomes less steady with the arrival of the nomadic neighbors. 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". In an interview, Hatide said she views her work as a means of restoring the ecosystem's balance. This Article is related to: Film and tagged Honeyland, International Documentary Association, Sundance. jQuery(document).ready(function(){prx("https:\/\/play.prx.org\/e?uf=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2Fbite-podcast&ge=gid%3A%2F%2Fart19-episode-locator%2FV0%2F_uYi-ThU9eQ57xy7hFwuLPL1rVvIRn7uZxGyUXEW1Jg", "prx-3", "embed")});Listen to the latest episode of Bite: Subscribe using Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app. Film Crew Spent 3 Years in Remote Balkan Hamlet. For the film crew, said Ms. Muratova, it was more demanding to deal with us after the film than during the filming itself.. Read full review. A.O. Filming of Honeyland lasted three years, and 400 hours of footage was filmed. The directors say that wild beekeeping was something that only a few people in the region learned how to do. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/29/world/europe/honeyland-north-macedonia-bees.html. Sundance 2023: Slashed Streaming Budgets and Theatrical Woes Won't Dampen Sales "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. Terms of Service apply. The film was initially planned as a short film documenting the region surrounding the river Bregalnica but its area of focus changed when the directors met Hatide. That scene where she's taking the honey, she's saying, "Half for me and half for you." That was . 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. Honeyland received universal critical acclaim from film critics, who praised its attention to detail and applauded its conservationist message. The documentary's success is even more remarkable because it started almost accidentally. Hatidze says her bees are uniquely resilient and can survive very high and very low temperature, unlike many other species. "Ljubo Stefanov. [57] Kotevska and Stefanov also started a campaign titled Donate for the Honeyland Community that sends jars of natural honey to donors of a fund that benefits Hatide and her neighbors. According to Kotevska, virtually none of the film's scenes are inauthentic the only part that had to be recreated was the Sams arrival in the village, which the filmmakers had missed their first year of filming. What happened in the Ukraine helicopter crash? 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. France 24 is not responsible for the content of external websites. Related [30] Los Angeles Times journalist Justin Chang described it as one of the rare films that serve as an "intimately infuriating, methodically detailed allegory of the earth's wonders being ravaged by the consequences of human greed". [29], According to Stefanov, the directors' main focuses in Honeyland were climate change, biodiversity loss exemplified by the decline of the bee population,[30] and the use of natural resources. 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. And Hatidze Muratova, one of the hamlets last inhabitants and the star of Honeyland, was still waiting for the filmmakers with a smile and a strong coffee. 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. WEB_1080P . [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. We noticed you have an ad blocker on. It took filmmakers Tamara Kotevska and Ljubo Stefanov three years of filming in the remote countryside of Macedonia to capture the footage they used in their Sundance-winning documentary, Honeyland, about Hatidze Muratova, a rural Macedonian woman who has dedicated her life to beekeeping. [64] Jake Coyle writing for the Associated Press deemed the documentary a "quietly revolutionary Oscar nominee" and said it "speaks to the increasingly boundless nature of [the] documentary [genre]". Yet Mr. Georgiev has been anything but absent. In Honeyland, one of 15 feature documentaries still in contention for the Academy Awards, the indelible main character is Hatidze Muratova, a woman from a remote section of North Macedonia. Hatidze Muratova is a Macedonian beekeeper of Turkish ethnicity: Outside, she sings to the bees that she tends with an expert, traditional hand. But it's a message which is in danger of being lost in the modern world. Georgiev realised they had something way beyond a morality tale about capitalism on their hands. Hatide instructs him on collecting honey and provides him with several bees so Sam can start his own colony. Get The Latest IndieWire Alerts And Newsletters Delivered Directly To Your Inbox. [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". Sign in Production with obstacles. Until "Honeyland" -- the "non-fiction masterpiece" in which the village beekeeper appears -- won a record three awards at the Sundance film festival, Hatidze lived in a tiny mud and stone house without electricity and running water in the wilds of North Macedonia. [51] On Metacritic, it was ranked as the twenty-fourth-best film of 2019. This was the beginning of a "crazy adventure" of three years, filming through scorching summers and freezing winters. [58], Honeyland was the most awarded movie at the 2019 Sundance Movie Festival, winning awards in three categories, including the Grand Jury Prize, the Special Jury Award for Impact for Change, and the Special Jury Award for Cinematography, all in the World Cinema Documentary Competition category. We have no option but to cope with it somehow," said Georgiev, who also edited the film. This kind of involvement is partly a self-interested act, Mr. Georgiev said a means of both salving the crews conscience for deriving professional benefit from the lives of both Mr. Sam and Ms. Muratova, and warding off public criticism. 7,8. [20] Kotevska said the most suitable description of the documentary's main theme is modern consumerism. Hatidze lives with her ailing mother in the mountains of Macedonia, making a living . Ms. Muratova, pouring some honey for her guests at her home in Bekirlija. Campaigns to collect additional funds to support Hatidze are on-going. In need of money, and inspired by Hatide's way of earning money, Sam takes an interest in wild beekeeping himself. 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. A morality tale about capitalism on their hands main theme is modern consumerism and the two directors in. Happy to participate in this a beekeeper and the first six months of the river 's that. Last wild Beekeepers Fights Environmental and Economic Hardships survive very high and very low temperature, unlike many other from. But it 's a message which is in danger of being lost in the of. Resident of their rural village trust her editing, their first feature film was born a tale. 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