A film with real buzz

Blerta Basholli's harrowing cinematic offering has been garnering five-star reviews from critics and film fans alike.

In a short space of time, Hive has won 16 awards at various international film festivals – including three at the famous Sundance event – and it deserves every one of them. Its eagerly anticipated UK release is set for 18 March.

WAR-TORN: feuding armies had scores to settle when hostilities erupted in the Balkans.

Set in Kosova shortly after the 1990s conflict with Serbia, it focuses on Fahrije (played by Yika Gasi), whose husband – like many other men in her village – is missing and presumed dead. The opening moments are gripping as she searches body bags at a UN. base trying to find him.

On returning to her village, she galvanizes the other women into forming a cooperative to help support themselves and their families.

They start a business cooking a local delicacy which they can sell to a supermarket. However, this comes under attack from the elderly men who remain in the village, who believe that women should not be going into business – or even driving cars!

COMING TOGETHER: village women work alongside one another in a bid to survive.

Fahrije is physically attacked and comes under pressure from all sides as the villagers' desperate need to raise money continues.

The acting performances of the cast are wonderful, and the director takes us right into the heart of a very desperate situation. The beauty of Kosovo contrasts with the horror and misery experienced by these women and their families.

The title is inspired by Fahrije’s husband, who was a beekeeper and sold honey to make a living before war erupted in the region. This is something Fahrije continues, producing it for her father-in-law to sell at the local market. However, there’s more to it than that. The bees become symbolic of the struggle of the women as pull together in order to ensure the survival of everything they love. The bees are a metaphor for their very lives.

CONFLICT ZONE: large parts of Kosovo were left in ruins due to the war.

I found this film compelling, thoroughly engaging, and shocking.

It’s a must-see, well worth 84 minutes of anybody's time. Remembering what happened in the former Yugoslavia is timely and the fact that Hive is a true story makes it even more poignant. In my opinion, it most certainly deserves all the accolades it is receiving. Hopefully, there will be more to come.

Sorted film critic Andy Godfrey is a founder member of the Mark Kermode Appreciation Society.