In keeping with the finest efforts in the documentary field, Honeyland gives you a real feeling of being that fly on the wall. Its filming style is so unobtrusive and the film’s subjects so natural in front of the camera, it’s very easy to get lost in their world. And what a world it turns out to be.
Hatidze Muratova is a beekeeper who lives in a remote mountainous village in North Macedonia. She is very poor and shares a domicile with her sickly mother. She tends to her bees with love, respect and in harmonious balance with the laws of the land. She has very simple needs and is very careful to not deplete the natural resources that her bee colonies represent.
When a large family moves into her tiny village, their expanded needs and disregard for Hatidze’s sense of ecological balance severely disrupts the local environment. This leads to a colony collapse of her beloved bees. There is a strong parallel between this and the voracious devouring of natural resources that western style capitalism represents. Even with a group of people with such modest needs, the effect of their minimal consumption is substantial.
It’s often times easy to forget you are viewing these people in modern times as they live life’s that are so basic and with so little technology. They don’t even have running water in their tiny abodes. The scenes that feature jet airplanes leaving contrails as they flies high overhead jar you back to the now. The dynamic between husband and wife and parent and child is also starkly represented and often cruel. The strength of Hatidze in overcoming an often times harsh life is never less than intriguing.
Honeyland is currently playing at Dendy Cinemas – head to www.dendy.com.au for more information and tickets.
Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/honeyland.earth
