Georgiev puts much of the film's phenomenal success down to Hatidze's "wonderful heart". The untouched nature of Hatidze's home couldn't be further away from the glitz and glamour of film festivals. [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. They have since helped set Hatidze up in a new winter home close to her relatives in the "nearest village to civilisation". What caught the directors' interest early on was observing Hatidze's life and her relationship with her mother. Honeyland is the story of Hatidze, a lone rural beekeeper in the spectacular, almost unpopulated Macedonian mountain countryside. Honeyland was filmed over 100 separate days spread out over three years . And this is how we came to it. But when they met Hatidze a beekeeper who returned half of her honey to the bees who made it, and lived in an abandoned village caring for her ailing, blind mother - they found a dynamic. With eight hungry mouths to feed, Hussein tries his hand at honey. She removes the covering and, with her bare hands, pulls honey-covered frames out of the hive while chanting to the bees and using smoke to keep . Hatide attended the event and performed two songs after receiving the award. "Everything we've heard from Hatidze refers to bees. Honeyland Review: An accomplished and heartfelt documentary exploring a lost way of life and impact of the modern world on our environment . [10] The movie was originally intended as government-funded documentary short focusing on the Bregalnica river and the preservation of the surrounding region in Lozovo municipality, central North Macedonia. Kotevska and Stefanov say that, like beekeeping, all the other jobs in this harsh environment have been done equally by men and women. [28] They also set up a donation page supporting Hatide and the Sam kids on the film's website. Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. Influencers: Profiles of a Partnership 2022, How to Pitch Stories and Articles to IndieWire, Sundance 2023: 17 Films That Could Sell Big Among a Diverse Lineup, Sundance 2023: Slashed Streaming Budgets and Theatrical Woes Won't Dampen Sales, 7 New Netflix Shows in October 2022 -- and the Best Reasons to Watch. "People love her. 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. ", "Honeyland review quietly heartbreaking meditation on rural life", "A Rare Nature Documentary That Tells a Deeply Human Story", "2019 Critics Poll: The Best Films and Performances According to Over 300 Critics From Around the World", "Best of 2019: Film Critic Top Ten Lists", " " " ", " " ": " , ", "Interview: Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov on Making the Most Out of an Environmentally Sticky Situation in "Honeyland", "The documentary 'Honeyland' captures a story of resilience", "Here Are the Winners of the 2019 Sundance Awards", " , - 2020", "How 'Honeyland' Became an Oscar Game Changer", "Making Oscar history, 'Honeyland' shatters borders", "Post 'Honeyland,' More Countries Are Submitting Documentary Oscar Contenders", "Oscar nominations 2020: 'Joker' leads with 11; Greta Gerwig snubbed for best director; complete list of nominees", "2019 EDA Award Winners Alliance of Women Film Journalists", "The 2019 Boston Society Of Film Critics (BSFC) Winners", "Chicago Film Critics Give Best Picture To 'Parasite' And Best Director To Bong Joon Ho", "American Factory and Apollo 11 Top 2020 Cinema Eye Honors", "The 2019 Dallas Fort-Worth Film Critics Association (DFWFCA) Winners", "DGA Announces Nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film for 2019", "HONEYLAND won Best International Film Award at the 21st edition of DOCAVIV The Tel Aviv International Documentary Film Festival", "2019 European Film Awards: Nominees and Favorites", "The Lighthouse, Uncut Gems Lead 2020 Indie Spirit Nominations", "New York Film Critics Circle Names 'The Irishman' Best Film; Safdie Brothers, Lupita Nyong'o, Antonio Banderas Among Winners", "The Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) Announces 2019 Award Winners", "PGA Awards Documentary Nominations: 'Apollo 11', 'American Factory', 'The Cave', 'Honeyland', Others Make The Cut", "International Press Academy (IPA) Satellite Awards: 'Ford v Ferrari' races to the top with 5 wins", "The 2019 Seattle Film Critics Society (SFCS) Nominations", "The 2019 St. Louis Film Critics Association (StLFCA) Nominations", "2019 Suundance Film Festival Awards Announced", "Parasite Finds a Host in D.C. Film Critics Awards 2019", "Honeyland: Why you need to see this beautifully crafted and compelling human drama", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Honeyland&oldid=1125146488, Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Documentary, Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography, Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking, Atanas Georgiev & Tamara Kotevska & Ljubomir Stefanov, Tamara Kotevska & Ljubomir Stefanov & Atanas Georgiev, World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary, World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Impact for Change, World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Cinematography, This page was last edited on 2 December 2022, at 12:21. July 26, 2019 11:07 pm. And I can feel that she feels that this is not her only home.. Calm and gentle, Ms. Muratova has a deep and respectful relationship with nature, treating her bees almost as collaborators. 2023 BBC. It's been exactly two years, and it's now time to say thank you and goodbye. She is one of the last keepers of wild bees in Europe. [17][21] The filming technique has elements of direct cinema and cinma vrit. You can't miss her. 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 her,"" Georgiev revealed. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters. Added Kotevska, That, for us, made it feel like we [were] watching a new film. 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. In the film, she develops a special bond with one of the Sam boys. 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. Log in to Reply. 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. But as often happens with the best documentaries, the filmmakers got lucky, because the movie they thought they were making a slice of life about a beekeeper became something more, a story about character and . Some documentary crews maintain a professional distance even after filming stops. This was the most powerful sentence," he said. She stated that the movie was too fictionalized to be regarded as a documentary and claimed it was "a bona fide Flahertian re-enacted documentary. [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]". 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. The directors focused only on the visuals without making use of audio recordings or transcripts. [16] Hatide and the nomad family were camera-shy at first but became used to the process as filming progressed. Watch out at the Oscars on Sunday for Hatidze Muratova. For more information about the series, and a complete schedule, visit IDA. 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. 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. [21] Each of the directors focused on a different element of the narrative; Kotevska's main role was the portrayal of relationships while Stefanov captured the environmental aspects. First we spent three and a half months, four months, just watching the material, the whole material. [47] Ed Potton of The Times, who gave the film four stars out of five, said "[a]lthough it starts as a meditation on the hardship and rhythms of rural life, [the film] becomes something more intimate". Now it has become the first film ever to get Oscar nominations for both best documentary and best foreign language movie, Hatidze has become a full-blown celebrity who gets stopped in the street by Hollywood stars. But they also contain poignant revelations of Hatidzes inner yearnings. Hatidze lives with her ailing mother in the mountains of Macedonia, making a living cultivating honey using ancient beekeeping traditions. . Atanas Georgiev, left, the producer of Honeyland, and Tamara Kotevska, center left, one of the two co-directors, with Hussein Sam, his wife, Ljutvie, and their children inDorfulija, North Macedonia. [13], Initially, the directors were planning to focus on the rotational farming practices of villagers inhabiting the area around Bregalnica. Hatidze says her bees are uniquely resilient and can survive very high and very low temperature, unlike many other species. Hatidze Muratova in Honeyland (2019) Close. Kotevska says there were many other disadvantages from the beginning of the shooting but most of them ended up working out well. Hatidze Muratova in Honeyland (2019) People Hatidze Muratova. At the time of filming, Ms. Muratova lived year-round in Bekirlija, while Mr. Sams chaotic family usually only visited during the summer, disrupting Ms. Muratovas quiet existence. At her old home in Bekirlija, she proudly unveiled her latest bowl of liquid honey. Terms of Service apply. Listen on Apple Podcasts. Ms. Muratova had lost her new house key, so the producer had to find the workman with the spare. [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. Nominated for two Oscars, Honeyland charted the tensions between a hermitic beekeeper and her disorderly neighbors. 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