Starring: Hatidze Muratova, Nazife Muratova, Hussein Sam, and Ljutvie Sam
Distributor: Umbrella Entertainment
Runtime: 86 mins. Reviewed in Feb 2020
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This subtitled documentary from the Republic of Macedonia tells the story of a bee-keeper, of Turkish descent, who fights to save her bees when a nomadic family moves in next to her. The documentary is set in the rural, mountain village of Bekirlijia, southeast of Skopje, the capital and largest city of Northern Macedonia. It intimately portrays the life of the beekeeper, Hatidze Muratova, who lives deep within the Balkans.
The movie was nominated to receive an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature in 2020, and at the 2019 Sundance Movie Festival it received special jury awards for cinematography and originality, and the Grand Jury Prize in Sundance’s World Cinema Documentary category.
Hatidze is one of the last Wild beekeepers in the country, and lives peacefully with her 85-year old bed-ridden mother (Nazife) who is partially blind and paralysed, and totally dependent on her for care. Her village is without roads, water, or electricity. She survives by selling honey in Skopje which is 20km. away, and a four hour walk.
The itinerant family that arrives changes the harmony of her way of life. Hussein Sam, a Turkish nomad comes, accompanied by his wife, Ljutvie, seven children, and a herd of cattle. After watching Hatidze, Hussein decides to farm his own colony of bees. Hatidze gives advice to Hussein on how to look after his bees, but Hussein ignores her advice.
Hatidze believes strongly in the forces of balance within an ecosystem in which she willingly participates. She sings to her bees and always leaves them with half the honey they produce. She is committed by practice and belief to the traditions and customs of her ancestors, but struggles to keep the old ways going. Bees need, she argues, to use their energy for what they have to do. The peace and familiar routines of her life are disrupted by Hussein. She tries to have a good relationship with members of his family, but they noisily alter her peaceful and harmonious existence. She rigorously explains to Hussein how to start a bee colony and instructs him in the art of good beekeeping, but when an over-eager customer asks Hussein for more honey than he can possibly farm, Hussein is attracted by the lure of money and behaves unwisely.
Hatidze scolds Hussein for harvesting his bees in the wrong way and they attack her bees which threatens her livelihood and destabilises her environment. After her bee colony collapses, her ailing mother passes away, and she is left alone in her village. The film concludes by showing Hatidze engaging with the peace and comfort of the ecosystem that again surrounds her.
The film explores significant social themes. The major ones are climate change and loss of biodiversity as illustrated by the effects of bad farming practices (on the bee population), and the exploitation of natural resources for commercial gain. Subsidiary themes also exist such as the importance of sustaining proper interactions between a mother and a dutiful daughter which is illustrated in the film by expressive scenes of caring intimacy.
The film captures the beauty of Macedonian scenery, and combines it with a deeply personal human story. At one level, it explores the majesty of the rugged mountain regions of Macedonia. At another level, it powerfully communicates human feelings of happiness, despair, loss and grief. The combination of the two levels is engrossing. It is never obvious in the movie that anyone being filmed is aware of a camera, and there is no narrative voice-over to explain what is happening. Events simply unfold just as they are, and the film is full of compassion for those in it, including Hussein Sam. This is a haunting, powerful documentary of great beauty. Its images are stunning, and the moral themes it explores are inspiring. It is documentary cinema at its best.
Peter W. Sheehan is Associate of the Australian Catholic Office for Film and Broadcasting
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