Hot take: Honeyland

‘Honeyland’ is a documentary about a middle-aged woman who is the last of the traditional beekeepers. Such a plain subject could have made for dull cinema, but there is enough beautiful nature photography, intimate human study and ecological allegory in this tale to hold your attention, despite a slow pace. Cinematographers Fejmi Daut and Samir Ljuma alternate between postcard-like aerial shots, close-up portraits and macro photography, giving us a sense of how intertwined human, animal and plant life is in nature. Shot in honeyed tones as if already nostalgic for an idyllic way of harnessing nature for human use, this is a lyrical, hypnotic reminder of how the earth is “half for us, and half for them”. Directors Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov eliminate didactic voiceovers and allow us into the drama directly, making for a powerful yet gentle reminder that this earth is our only home.

Genre: Drama, Documentary

Language: Turkish/Macedonian/Serbo-Croatian/Bosnian

Runtime: 1h 29min

Year of release: 2019

Streaming Platform: N/A

Hot take is a series in which I offer my first impressions of films from India and around the world.