Ljubomir Stefanov

When nomadic beekeepers break Honeyland’s basic rule (take half of the honey, but leave half to the bees), the last female beehunter in Europe must save the bees and restore natural balance.

Throughout our lives we grow used to the sounds surrounding us and they become so familiar that, over time, we hardly pay any attention to them. Many of those sounds have little meaning for us. Yet, recognizing them makes us aware that something is going on and invokes an image, without our relying on our other senses. Perhaps, we might recognize in them the sound of summer or the smell of a familiar place. But do we always recognize their source?

Filmed over one year, this documentary follows the changing fortunes of beautiful Lake Prespa - one of the oldest freshwater lakes on Earth, providing a habitat for over 2,000 species of plants and animals, many of them unique to this ancient ecosystem. An elderly fisherman rows out across the lake to check on his fishing nets. It's the same trip he's made every morning for most of his life. But other things have changed. The famous pelicans and cormorants are not staying here in the same numbers anymore. And the fisherman's nets now only catch algae. The future for the lake and all the lives that depend on it are highly uncertain.