Honeyland

In the mountain village of Bekirlija in North Macedonia, Hatidže Muratova harvests honey from wild hives set in the rocks, following one rule: take half, leave half for the bees. She lives with her bedridden mother. Then a nomadic family moves in next door and starts doing the same work far faster and far more greedily. The film is not interested in beekeeping. It is interested in the plainest possible version of the question of sustainability: the neighbour who breaks the rule wins quickly, then loses both the bees and his own livelihood. The film does not argue this, it shows it happening. The form is observational documentary with no narrator and no interviews. The team shot for more than three years, and the result is a documentary built like a fiction film. Its awards history contains a first: Honeyland became the first film nominated for both Best Documentary Feature and Best International Feature Film, and brought North Macedonia its first documentary nomination. It premiered at Sundance on 28 January 2019. Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov directed. Who it is for: viewers who like slow observational documentary and ecological subjects. Who it is not for: anyone wanting pace. The film is built on long silences and most of what happens develops in the background.