Honey

Colour, 35 mm
Turkey, Germany, 2010, 103 min
Section: Horizons

Synopsis

Six-year-old Yusuf is an only child. His family lives in the middle of the woods in the mountainous region of northeastern Turkey. The boy almost doesn’t speak and he is emotionally tied to his father. He enjoys accompanying him on work excursions into the woods where his dad, a beekeeper, places his hives high in the tops of trees. Yusuf shares with his father an intimate relationship to nature, learning from him to recognize plants and helping him work with the bees. At school Yusuf is an outsider who longs to receive praise from his teacher but it never comes. This third installment of an already renowned trilogy about the life of poet Yusuf takes us back to his childhood. Director Semih Kaplanoğlu focuses on the tight bond between humans and nature, and on the inner development of the young protagonist. Thanks to outstanding camerawork and an exceptional performance by seven-year-old Bora Altaş, this slow-paced adventure acquires an almost meditative atmosphere. The strength of the film is supported by the absence of music, which allows room for the sounds of virgin nature.

About the director

Semih Kaplanoğlu (b. 1963, İzmir, Turkey) is one of the most renowned Turkish filmmakers working today. He graduated in film and television from Dokuz Eylül University in İzmir. After several shorts, he debuted in features with Away From Home (Herkes kendi evinde, 2000), which took numerous awards and was screened at many festivals. His second feature, Angel’s Fall (Melegin dususu, 2004), premiered at the 55th Berlin IFF to the praise of critics and audiences alike. He then began work on the "Yusuf trilogy,” each part of which received numerous international awards: Egg (Yumurta, 2007, presented at the Karlovy Vary IFF), Milk (Süt, 2008), and now Honey. Kaplanoğlu has also written numerous theoretical articles about the fine arts and film.