“We only take half,” Hatidze Muratova, the last in a long line of Balkan beekeepers, explains to a young boy as she removes a honeycomb from a hive. “Half for them. Half for us.” A trailer has dropped for “Honeyland,” Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov’s Sundance award-winning documentary about Hatidze.
Hatidze lives in mountains with her ailing mother. Her village has no roads, electricity, or running water, and the nearest city is four hours away by foot. But everything changes once a family of traveling beekeepers arrives. As the spot hints, Hatidze bonds with the family, especially its children, but is uncomfortable with their method of beekeeping. There’s a lot of noise and machinery where there was once peace and quiet.
“Honeyland” debuted at Sundance this January. Since then, it has screened at fests such as New Directors/New Films and Hot Docs.
At Sundance, Kotevska and Stefanov won the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Impact for Change and the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary for “Honeyland.” The film also received the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Originality.
Kotevska’s other credits include shorts “Paw Law” and “Free hugs.”
“Honeyland” opens July 26.