More Than Honey (More Than Honey)
Contemporary World Cinema - Doha Tribecca Film Festival 2012
Markus Imhoof / Feature Documentary / Germany, Austria, Switzerland / 2012 / 90 min / Colour / DCP / In German / Arabic, English subtitles / MENA Premiere
Rated: General Audiences. Suitable for ages 4 and up.
Synopsis
This meticulously researched documentary takes an intriguing new look at the now well-publicised plight of the world’s bee population. In recent years, much attention has been paid to the general demise of this fascinating, magnificent insect, whose pollination of food crops is necessary for the continuation of human life on Earth. Unfortunately, in the USA, the pursuit of the almighty dollar means bees are treated as fruit-pollinating, honey-making slaves. Transported well outside their natural range, they spread disease and pests to other bee colonies. Meanwhile, in China, the bee population is so drastically depleted that fruit orchards must be pollinated by hand by migrant workers with a deplorable rate of success. Featuring breathtaking cinematography that takes the audience right inside the hive, ‘More Than Honey’ suggests that we must learn to respect this fellow creature if we are to avoid its complete eradication – and therefore our own.
About the Director
Markus Imhoof was born in 1941 in Winterthur, Switzerland. His filmmaking career has been divided between documentaries – including ‘Volksmund’ (1972), ‘Via Scarlatti 20’ (1982) and ‘Les Petites Illusions’ (1991) – and narrative features: ‘The Boat Is Full’, which won a Silver Bear at Berlin and was nominated for an Oscar in 1981; ‘The Journey’ (1986); ‘The Mountain’ (1990); and ‘Fire in Paradise’ (1997).
Credits
- Director
- Markus Imhoof
- Screenwriter
- Markus Imhoof
- Producer
- Pierre-Alain Meier, Markus Imhoof, Thomas Kufus, Helmut Grasser
- Editor
- Anne Fabini
- Music
- Peter Scherer
- Cinematographer
- Jörg Jeshel
- Cast
- n/a