Film BAL (HONEY) by Semih Kaplanoğlu

Turkey, Germany 2010/ Director: Semih Kaplanoğlu/ Cast: Bora Altaş, Erdal Beşikçioğlu, Tülin Özen a.o./ 104 min. | Turkish. Original language/ from 6 years

Yusuf lives with his parents in the densely wooded mountains of the Black Sea region, high up in the north-east of Turkey. He often accompanies his father, the beekeeper Yakup, on his forays through the deep, untouched forests. At his father’s side, Yusuf attentively learns the secrets of nature, but when an inexplicable bee death plagues the area, Yakup sets off to set up his beehives in a more inaccessible, dangerous mountainous region. Days later, he still hasn’t returned … Semih Kaplanoğlu takes us back to a world full of poetic beauty that seems like a fairy tale, activates all the senses and makes the lush landscape of the Anatolian mountains physically tangible.

Semih Kaplanoğlu was born in Izmir in 1963 and graduated from the University of Fine Arts in Izmir in 1984 with a degree in cinema and television. His debut feature HERKES KENDI EVINDE (2000) won numerous prizes at international festivals. His second feature film MELEĞIN DÜȘÜÜȘÜ (2004) was shown at the 55th Berlinale in 2005 and won the FIPRESCI Prize at the 24th International Istanbul Film Festival, among others. This was followed by the trilogy YUMURTA (2007), SÜT (2008) and finally BAL, which won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale in 2010.