FILM: Bal (Honey)

SEMIH Kaplanoglu’s drama won the top prize, the Golden Bear, at the 2010 Berlin Film Festival and has subsequently garnered other coveted prizes on the festival circuit.
By The Newsroom
Published 16th Jul 2011, 19:00 BST

Primary school student Yusuf (Bora Altas) lives in the Rize Province near the Black Sea with his beekeeper father Yakup (Erdal Besikcioglu) and mother Zehra (Tulin Ozen).

Afflicted with a stammer, Yusuf is reluctant to mix with the other students and while they go outside to play, he stays inside, in his own little world.

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Times are tough for the family and bee colonies are dying out due to pollution, forcing Yakup to make long trips in search of better locations for the hives.

The patriarch doesn’t return from one such trip so Zehra and Yusuf embark on a quest to find Yakup and save the family from ruin.

By Damon Smith

Released: July 15 (UK, selected cinemas) (PG, 104 mins)