Çeşm-i Cihan: Tarih Kültür ve Sanat Araştırmaları Dergisi E-Dergisi

Abstract

Seeing a country or a geography with short trips can give an idea about the culture of that society, but not all cultural codes can be understood or identified with short trips. Getting to know a culture is only possible by getting rid of prejudices and learning the language of that culture, its beliefs, values, mindsets and artistic understandings that have been passed down from generation to generation. Movies and documentaries about that culture play an important role in deciphering cultural codes.
The documentary Honeyland, shot in North Macedonia, won an award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2019. The first film by Macedonian directors and producers Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov, Honeyland began as a documentary about the lives of villagers, but their encounter with Hatice (Hatidže Muratova), who is a honey producer, changed the course of the documentary.
Hatice stands out as an exemplary representative of the Balkan Turkish female identity with her outlook on life, the social roles she undertakes, her attitude towards parents and children, her combative identity, her awareness of nature, and her devotion to life. Hatice's life, as portrayed in the documentary, reveals important data regarding the Turkish culture in the Balkans, the Turkish female identity, and Turkish cultural codes.
In this paper, findings on Turkish culture in the Balkans, Turkish women's identity, and Turkish cultural codes are presented through the Honey Country documentary.