Honeyland
Docs del mes dedicates September to this documentary that shows the fragile balance between humans and nature.
The Docs Barcelona festival extends throughout the year thanks to its Docs del mes cycle. Each month, a documentary selected from the best premieres is screened in more than 70 cinemas. This September, the protagonist is Honeyland, produced in North Macedonia in 2019 and directed by Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov. The documentary, which shows the end of a way of life based on the rational use of natural resources, can be seen in several theatres in Barcelona on different dates.
The action of the documentary takes place in the Balkans, in a small village in a remote and unreachable area within the mountains. There, Hatidze Muratova takes care of her sick mother, who treasures a secret that allows her to raise bees, obtain honey without wearing any protection and sell it in the city. The mother maintains a balanced and harmonious bond with nature that allows the protagonists to live peacefully until a nomadic family bursts into the village of Hatidze. It is a noisy family, with seven children and a herd of cows, which disrupts both the life of the bees and the traditional activity of the protagonists with their commercial ideas.
The film reflects how ambitions and interests can jeopardize a nature-based way of life, to the point of threatening the balance between humans and their environment. Through a modest activity, small-scale beekeeping, Honeyland highlights some global environmental problems such as climate change, resource abuse and biodiversity loss resulting from human activities. An overwhelming film that has won recognition, such as three awards at the Sundance Film Festival and that has two nominations for the 2019 Oscars (for best documentary and best non-English language film). In Barcelona, you can see it on 3 September in the Girona Cinemas, on 15 September in the Casa Elizalde, on 19 September in the Ateneu Fort Pienc Civic Centre, on 20 and 28 September in the Sarrià Theatre, on 22 September in the Vilapicina Library and the Torre Llobeta and on 30 September in the San Martí Auditorium.
More information at this link.