The HOME Film Podcast is back and for the June edition we asked our hosts to select their top sustainable films.
Rachel Hayward, Head of Film, HOME
Bal (Honey) (2010)
Bal (Honey) is the third part of director Semih Kaplanoğlu’s Yusuf Trilogy (Egg, 2007; Milk, 2008; Honey, 2010) – a trio of films telling one man’s life story, but its parts are presented in reverse, so Honey focuses on Yusuf as a boy.
Young Yusuf adores his father whose work gathering honey in the forests around their home is essential to the family’s livelihood, and when the bees disappear all is threatened.
Winner of the Golden Bear at the 2010 Berlin Film Festival, Honey has exceptional cinematography of the Turkish countryside. It is a perfectly paced and contemplative film which explores the balance of our relationships with nature.
Available online
Andy Willis, Senior Visiting Curator: Film
Behemoth the Sea Monster (1959)
The 1950s saw the release of a number of science fiction films that addressed the possibility of a nuclear disaster as the result of testing at sea. The most famous and influential of these is perhaps Godzilla which hit Japanese cinema screens in 1954. Following the success of this film a number of others presented monsters whose existence was caused by some kind of nuclear catastrophe.
A striking British contribution to this cycle is Behemoth the Sea Monster from 1959, which offers a dinosaur resurrected by nuclear testing. First seen off the Cornish coast, the monster then heads to London, wreaking havoc as it goes. Directed by Douglas Hickox and Eugène Lourié, and with a special effects team led by Willis O’Brien who had contributed to the creation of the legendary King Kong in 1933, this is an entertaining and thought provoking film that warns against the potential impact of nuclear testing. Available on the BFI Player.
Jason Wood, Artistic Director: Film, HOME
Honeyland (2019) When a nomadic family move in and break Honeyland’s basic rule, the last female wild beekeeper in Europe must save the bees and restore natural
balance in this compelling and multi-award winning documentary that stands as a microcosm for how closely intertwined nature and humanity are. Watch it on BFI Player.
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