“Half for them, half for me”- The Last Woman in Europe Working as a Wild Beekeeper

The documentary “Honeyland” tells a story about a beekeeper in the rural parts of the Republic of Macedonia. This breathtaking environmental documentary takes place in an abandoned village in the Republic of Macedonia. It is about a woman (Hatidze) that harvests honey the conventional way from wild hives. The documentary started as a nature conservation video about one of Europe’s last wild beekeepers.

Hatidze sings “Half for them, half for me” and leaves enough honey for the bees

In the beginning, she appears on a dangerous cliff edge. She does not wear any mask or beekeeping suit. In this scene, we can see how the bees form a swarm while she removes the honeycomb from the hive in the rocks. Hatidze lives in a village where there is no electricity or running water. She is a wonderful woman. Even though she lives in poverty, she is a true environmentalist and natural optimist. She lives with her mother, a half-blind 86 year old woman.

The main idea of “Honeyland” is to show the human’s connection with nature and the disruption of nature’s balance through the two different ways of exploiting and using of Earth’s resources

What caused a great surprise for the directors is the unexpected turn that this documentary took. A family moved in next door to Hatidze in the middle of their shooting. This small-scale was transformed into a parable about exploiting natural resources. The family includes a mother (Ljutvie), a father (Hussein) and seven children. Hatidze seems to be happy with the new company and she teaches Hussein beekeeping. The most important thing that she teaches him is not to take too much honey and to leave half for his bees. The drama begins when Hussein ignores Hatidze’s advice and ends up with terrible consequences.

“Honeyland” was shot over 3 years

“Honeyland” definitely is a must-watch documentary. On Sundance Film Festival, “Honeyland” won in 3 categories, one of them being the World Cinema Documentary – Grand Jury Prize, the second one is World Cinema Documentary – Cinematography Award and the Special Jury Award for Impact for Change. This documentary is a candidate and there are many speculations that it will be nominated for the best international feature film category for the 92nd Academy Awards.

Watch the “Honeyland” trailer: