Honey (2010 film)
Encyclopedia
Honey is a 2010 Turkish drama film
directed by Semih Kaplanoğlu
, the third and final installment of the "Yusuf Trilogy", which includes Egg
and Milk. It premiered on 16 February 2010 in competition at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival
, where it became the third Turkish film, after Susuz Yaz
in 1964
, to win the Golden Bear
award. The film, which went on general release across Turkey on 9 April 2010, was selected as Turkey’s official candidate for the Best Foreign Film Oscar at the 83rd Academy Awards
but it didn't make the final shortlist.
, a six-year-old boy (Yusuf) wanders through the woods searching for his lost father, trying to make sense of his life. His father is a beekeeper whose bees have disappeared unexpectedly, threatening his livelihood. A bizarre accident kills the father. There is little dialogue or music in the film. The three main characters (Yusuf and his parents) are all fairly taciturn, and the soundtrack is filled out with the sounds of the forest and the creatures that live there. The environment is a recurring theme.
(Yumurta, 2007) and Milk (Süt, 2008). Egg was screened at Cannes, Milk at Venice. The trilogy runs in reverse chronological order, and Honey explores Yusuf's early childhood.
The film was jointly produced by Turkey's Kaplan Film Production and Germany
's Heimatfilm
, and shot in the mountains of Turkey. The scriptwriting was supported by a 25,000 Turkish lira
grant (approx. €12,000 or $16,500) from Script Development Fund of the Antalya Eurasia Film Festival
, while the production was supported by funding from the Council of Europe
Eurimages
fund, the North Rhine Westphalia Film Foundation and the television stations ZDF
and Arte
.
" film, while Christina Tilmann (Tagesspiegel) described it as "one of the most beautiful and most intimate films of this festival", made from unspectacular ingredients "... a film that lets the viewer dream. It feels like wind, like oxygen, air that you want to keep with you for as long as you can. Or like the Sun shining in the forest through marvelously tower-high trees."
award. Its win was seen as a "surprise" by some. Kaplanoğlu reacted by recalling an encounter with a bear while filming, "The bear is now back." At a press conference the director said: "In the name of Turkish Films, this is a very meaningful prize. It's a help to making better films". It was nominated for Best Film, Best Director
and Best Cinematography at the 23rd European Film Awards
.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Semih Kaplanoğlu
Semih Kaplanoglu
Semih Kaplanoğlu is a Turkish playwright, film director and producer.-Career:He graduated from the Cinema and Television Section of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Dokuz Eylül University in his hometown...
, the third and final installment of the "Yusuf Trilogy", which includes Egg
Egg (2007 film)
Egg is an award-winning 2007 Turkish-Greek drama film directed by Semih Kaplanoğlu. The film is the first instalment of the Yusuf Trilogy, named after the eponymous lead character of the series, which includes Milk and Honey, filmed and released in reverse chronological order...
and Milk. It premiered on 16 February 2010 in competition at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival
60th Berlin International Film Festival
The 60th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 11 to February 21, 2010, with Werner Herzog as President of the Jury. The opening film of the festival was Chinese director Wang Quan'an's romantic drama Apart Together, in competition, while the closing film is Japanese...
, where it became the third Turkish film, after Susuz Yaz
Susuz Yaz
Dry Summer is a 1964 black-and-white Turkish drama film, co-produced, co-written and directed by Metin Erksan based on a novel by Necati Cumalı, featuring Erol Taş as a tobacco farmer, who selfishly dams a river to irrigate his own property and ruin his competitors. It is also available in an...
in 1964
14th Berlin International Film Festival
The 14th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from June 26 to July 7, 1964.-Jury:* Anthony Mann * Hermann Schwerin* Lucas Demare* Jacques Doniol-Valcroze* Yorgos Javellas* Richard Todd* Takashi Hamama* Gerd Ressing...
, to win the Golden Bear
Golden Bear
According to legend, the Golden Bear was a large golden Ursus arctos. Members of the Ursus arctos species can reach masses of . The Grizzly Bear and the Kodiak Bear are North American subspecies of the Brown Bear....
award. The film, which went on general release across Turkey on 9 April 2010, was selected as Turkey’s official candidate for the Best Foreign Film Oscar at the 83rd Academy Awards
83rd Academy Awards
The 83rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , honored the best films of 2010 and took place February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST. During the ceremony, Academy Awards ...
but it didn't make the final shortlist.
Plot
In the remote and undeveloped eastern Black Sea regionBlack Sea Region
The Black Sea Region is one of Turkey's seven census-defined geographical regions . It is bordered by the Marmara Region to the west, the Central Anatolia Region to the south, the Eastern Anatolia Region to the southeast, the Republic of Georgia to the northeast, and the Black Sea to the north.-...
, a six-year-old boy (Yusuf) wanders through the woods searching for his lost father, trying to make sense of his life. His father is a beekeeper whose bees have disappeared unexpectedly, threatening his livelihood. A bizarre accident kills the father. There is little dialogue or music in the film. The three main characters (Yusuf and his parents) are all fairly taciturn, and the soundtrack is filled out with the sounds of the forest and the creatures that live there. The environment is a recurring theme.
Cast
- Erdal BeşikçioğluErdal Beşikçioğlu- Biography :Erdal Beşikçioğlu attended İzmir Özel Türk College and Mehmet Seyfi Eraltay High School after which he studied at the Hacettepe University State Conservatory. He participated in creative workshops with William Gaskill among others. Upon graduating, he started working in several state...
as Yakup - Tülin Özen as Zehra
- Alev Uçarer
- Bora Altaş as Yusuf
Production
Honey is the last installment of Kaplanoğlu's autobiographical "Yusuf Trilogy", named after the central character, preceded by EggEgg (2007 film)
Egg is an award-winning 2007 Turkish-Greek drama film directed by Semih Kaplanoğlu. The film is the first instalment of the Yusuf Trilogy, named after the eponymous lead character of the series, which includes Milk and Honey, filmed and released in reverse chronological order...
(Yumurta, 2007) and Milk (Süt, 2008). Egg was screened at Cannes, Milk at Venice. The trilogy runs in reverse chronological order, and Honey explores Yusuf's early childhood.
The film was jointly produced by Turkey's Kaplan Film Production and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
's Heimatfilm
Heimatfilm
Heimatfilm is the name given to a film genre that was popular in Germany, Switzerland and Austria from the late 40s to the early 70s. They were usually shot in the Alps, the Black Forest or the Lüneburg Heath and always involved the outdoors...
, and shot in the mountains of Turkey. The scriptwriting was supported by a 25,000 Turkish lira
Turkish lira
The Turkish lira is the currency of Turkey and the de facto independent state of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The lira is subdivided into 100 kuruş...
grant (approx. €12,000 or $16,500) from Script Development Fund of the Antalya Eurasia Film Festival
International Eurasia Film Festival
International Eurasia Film Festival was a film festival that took place annually from 2005 to 2008 in Antalya, Turkey. The festival was jointly organised by the Turkish Foundation of Cinema and Audio-visual Culture and the Antalya Foundation for Culture and Arts in conjunction with the Antalya...
, while the production was supported by funding from the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
Eurimages
Eurimages
Eurimages is the Council of Europe fund for the co-production, distribution, exhibition and digitisation of European cinematographic works. It aims to promote the European film industry by encouraging the production and distribution of films and fostering co-operation between professionals....
fund, the North Rhine Westphalia Film Foundation and the television stations ZDF
ZDF
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
and Arte
Arte
Arte is a Franco-German TV network. It is a European culture channel and aims to promote quality programming especially in areas of culture and the arts...
.
Critical reception
Katja Nicodemus (Die Zeit) praised the film as an "existential narrative about the world view of a child, about loss and mourning". She picks out the calm rhythm and the landscape photography: "In Bal, you believe you can smell the rain drizzling on the boy on his way to school". Detlef Kuhlbrodt (Die Tageszeitung) spoke of Kaplanoğlu's "meditativeMeditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
" film, while Christina Tilmann (Tagesspiegel) described it as "one of the most beautiful and most intimate films of this festival", made from unspectacular ingredients "... a film that lets the viewer dream. It feels like wind, like oxygen, air that you want to keep with you for as long as you can. Or like the Sun shining in the forest through marvelously tower-high trees."
Accolades
Honey beat 19 other films from around the world to win the Golden BearGolden Bear
According to legend, the Golden Bear was a large golden Ursus arctos. Members of the Ursus arctos species can reach masses of . The Grizzly Bear and the Kodiak Bear are North American subspecies of the Brown Bear....
award. Its win was seen as a "surprise" by some. Kaplanoğlu reacted by recalling an encounter with a bear while filming, "The bear is now back." At a press conference the director said: "In the name of Turkish Films, this is a very meaningful prize. It's a help to making better films". It was nominated for Best Film, Best Director
European Film Award for Best Director
-Winners and nominees:*1988**Wim Wenders - Wings of Desire **Terence Davies - Distant Voices, Still Lives**Louis Malle - Goodbye Children **Manoel de Oliveira - The Cannibals ...
and Best Cinematography at the 23rd European Film Awards
European Film Awards 2010
-Winners and nominees:The nominations for the 23rd European Film Awards were announced on 6 November at the Seville European Film Festival.-Best Film: The Ghost Writer – Roman Polanski • France/Germany/United Kingdom ...
.
See also
- 2010 in film2010 in filmThe year 2010 saw many new films released worldwide. 2010 saw a dramatic increase and prominence in the use of 3D-technology in filmmaking and film releases after the success of Avatar in the format, with releases such as Alice in Wonderland, Clash of the Titans, Jackass 3D, all animated films and...
- Cinema of TurkeyCinema of TurkeyTurkish cinema is an important part of Turkish culture, and has flourished over the years, delivering entertainment to audiences in Turkey, expatriates across Europe, and in rare cases, the USA....
- Turkish films of 2010Turkish films of 2010A list of films produced by the Turkish film industry in Turkey in 2010.-Highest-grossing films:-Events:JanuaryFebruaryMarch-July to December:-References:...
- List of submissions to the 83rd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
- List of Turkish submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
External links
- Official website of Kaplan Film