Honeyland (2019) on Netflix
NR20191h 29mDocumentaryDrama
In the mountain village of Bekirlija, Hatidže Muratova keeps wild bees and cares for her bedridden mother Nazife. A nomadic family then arrives nearby, among them the rancher Hussein Sam.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb8.0/1020,662 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes100%
Trailer
Plot summary
Hatidže Muratova is among the last keepers of wild bees in Europe. She lives in Bekirlija, a mountain village in Lozovo with no electricity and no running water, together with her mother Nazife, and sells her honey in Skopje, four hours away. Nazife is 85, partly blind and bedridden, and depends on her. A nomadic rancher, Hussein Sam, moves in nearby with his wife Ljutvie and their seven children.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Honeyland (2019)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- On 13 January 2020 Honeyland became the first documentary in the history of the Oscars to be nominated in both the Best Documentary Feature and Best International Feature Film categories, at the 92nd Academy Awards.
- The film's first cash prize, €30,000 from the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation at the 2019 Sarajevo Film Festival, was used to buy beekeeper Hatidže Muratova a new house in Dorfulija, close to her relatives and friends.
- Director Tamara Kotevska said almost none of the film's scenes were inauthentic: the only part recreated was the arrival of the nomadic Sam family, which the crew had missed during their first year of filming.
- Because Bekirlija is so remote, the six-person production team stayed there three to four days at a time, sleeping in tents and hammocks in front of Hatidže's house before driving to nearby towns for supplies and to recharge their filming equipment.
- Cinematographer Fejmi Daut said the village's lack of electricity meant the crew relied on daylight, candles, gaslight and a fireplace to achieve the image quality they wanted.
- After Honeyland's dual Oscar nomination, several other countries began submitting their documentaries for dual categories at the 2021 Academy Awards.
