Honeyland follows the daily life of Hatidže Muratova, a Macedonian bee keeper. Muratova lives with her mother in an extremely remote area on the mountains of Macedonia. As the film progresses, the Sam’s, a family of nomads, moves in near Muratova’s land. Muratova befriends the family, but sadly their relationship sours when Muratova’s bees are attacked and killed by those owned by the Sam family. After seeing the death of the bees, in addition to a few other developments in the Sam’s personal life, the family herds their cattle and travels to their next temporary home. The film ends with Muratova being left alone with just her mother, contemplating whether life in a remote village is truly worth the struggle, a theme that comes up multiple times in the film.

Honeyland is a extremely raw and eye opening documentary. At several points during the documentary, I was left with my jaw on the floor in awe that I was watching footage from 2015-2018. Muratova has no running water, no electricity, and lives off the land as much as possible. Like Muratova, the Sam family also lives unlike most people in Europe and the Westernized world. The Sam’s, who are nomads, pile all of their belongings in an old camping trailer and a few vehicles roaming from place to place. In addition to their caravan of vehicles, the Sam family also has a large herd of cattle. As you will see, the Sam’s use these cattle as a source of income, food, and livelihood, forcing the true meaning of sustainability. The family exemplifies what it means when you hear the phrase everyone has to pull their weight, employing everyone in the family, no matter age or gender to complete hard labor tasks on a daily basis.

Full review and grade at DocumentaryDistrict.wordpress.com