Honeyland / МЕДЕНА ЗЕМЈА

In a deserted Macedonian village, Hatidze, a 50-something woman, trudges up a hillside to check her bee colonies nestled in the rocks. Serenading them with a secret chant, she gently maneuvers the honeycomb without netting or gloves. Back at her homestead, Hatidze tends to her handmade hives and her bedridden mother, occasionally heading to the capital to market her wares. One day, an itinerant family installs itself next door, and Hatidze’s peaceful kingdom gives way to roaring engines, seven shrieking children, and 150 cows. Yet Hatidze welcomes the camaraderie, and she holds nothing back—not her tried-and-true beekeeping advice, not her affection, not her special brandy. But soon Hussein, the itinerant family’s patriarch, makes a series of decisions that could destroy Hatidze’s way of life forever.


Donate for the HONEYLAND community

Trailer

Details

Country of Production
Macedonia

Year of Production
2019

Format
HD, DCP

Length
85 min

Director
Ljubomir Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska

Production
Trice Films in co-production with Apolo Media

Original Language
Turkish dialect

Subtitles
English, French

Festivals / Awards

// Nominated for the Oscars 2020 in the Documentary Feature and International Feature Film categories

Sundance 2019 (World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary // World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Impact for Change // World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Cinematography)
Hong Kong IFF 2019
New Directors / New Films FF New York 2019
Visions du Réel IDF Nyon 2019
The Magnificent Seven IDF Belgrade 2019
San Francisco IFF 2019
Frames of Representation IFF London 2019
Sarasota IFF 2019 (Special Jury Award)
San Francisco IFF 2019, USA
Moscow IFF 2019, Russia
Hot Docs Toronto 2019
Montclair FF 2019 (Bruce Sinofsky Award)
IsReal Festival Sardinia 2019
CinéDoc Tbilisi 2019 (Special Jury Award)
DOK.fest Munich 2019
Docs Against Gravity Warsaw 2019 (Bank Millennium Grand Prix // Bydgoszcz ART.DOC Award // Mayor of Gdynia Award // Silesian Grand Prix)
DocsBarcelona 2019 (TV3 Award to the Best Film)
Seattle IFF 2019, USA
DocAviv 2019 (Best International Film Award)
FICMEC 2019 (Best Documentary Feature Award)
Krakow IFF 2019
Berkshire IFF 2019
Doc Edge IFF 2019
Sydney IFF 2019
Sheffield Doc/Fest 2019
Oslo Pix 2019
Étonnants-Voyageurs 2019
Shanghai IFF 2019
IceDocs IFF 2019
Taipei IFF 2019
Stronger Than Fiction IDF 2019
Melbourne IFF 2019
Macao IDF 2019
Sarajevo IFF 2019
EBS EIDF 2019 (Grand Prix)
Lessinia Mountain FF 2019 (Lessinia d'argento for the best director // Prize from the jury MicroCosmo of inmates of the Verona prison)
MakeDox Skopje 2019 (Young Onion Award – for the best newcomer’s film)
Nancy IFF 2019
Ulju Mountain FF 2019
Message to Man IFF 2019 (Centaur Prize for best Début // Bellona Environmental Law Organization’s prize)
Southeast European Future FF 2019
Athens IFF 2019 (Golden Athena Award for Best International Documentary)
Baikal People and Environment IFF 2019
Flahertiana IDF 2019 (Silver Nanook Award for Original Artistic Solution)
Darwin IFF 2019
Astra FF 2019
Mumbai IFF 2019 (Golden Gateway Award)
CinEast Festival 2019 (Audience Award)
West Lake IDF 2019
Salt Spring IFF 2019
Cinemed Monpellier 2019 (Special Mention)
Valladolid Seminci 2019 („Espiga Verde“ Award)
Ji.hlava IDF 2019
Mostra Sao Paulo 2019 (Jury Award for Best Documentary in the Category New Directors // Critics Award for Best International Film)
ÂNÛÛ-RÛ ÂBORO IDF 2019 (Grand Prix)
DOK Leipzig 2019
41 North FF 2019
Listapad IFF Minsk 2019
Viennale 2019
Festival dei Popoli 2019
Cineuropa FF 2019
IDFA 2019
Los Cabos IFF 2019
Doha Aiyal FF 2019
Tulum IFF 2019
Tahoe FF 2019
Cinema Vérité 2019
MUSOC Asturias 2020
FIPADOC Biarritz 2020
Budapest IDF 2020
Aswan Int. Women FF 2020
Plaza Indonesia FF 2020
Alpin Film Fest 2020
Accra and Kumasi Ghana 2020
One World Prague 2020
FICCI 2020

// North Macedonia’s submission for a nomination in the Best International Feature Film category at the 2020 Academy Awards
// Nominated for the European Film Awards 2019
// Nominated for the IDA Awards & Winner of the Pare Lorentz Award 2019
// Winner Best Cinematography at the IDA Awards 2019
// Nominated for the PGA Awards 2019
// Winner - Best First Documentary Feature at the Documentary Critics' Choice Awards