No Queen Bee

A brief comment on this month’s film selection, “HIVE”
A Film by Blerta Basholli

by John Bennison, Mountain Shadow Director

For our Mountain Shadow audiences, several monthly film selections this year might bear a resemblance in theme and even plotline. In August, the Icelandic film, “The County,” brought us the story of Inga; a widow farmer who single-handedly confronts the monopolistic Co-op in her rural countryside, run by a male-dominated enterprise.

Last month’s special encore screening of “The Swallows of Kabul,” told the story of two Afghan couples, struggling under Taliban rule. While the older couple does not escape some deadly consequences, the strong-willed younger woman ultimately takes flight and eludes capture with the promise of a brighter future.

With this month’s feature film, “HIVE,” the female protagonist is not only confronted with her own personal grief and loss; but must rise up against an arcane patriarchal system in order to liberate not only herself, but a whole collective of what one might regard metaphorically as her “sister worker bees.”

Collectively, these films might readily be considered a post-modern genre unto themselves with a universal storyline. The central theme that they share in common is all the more impactful by the fact they occur in different times and places.

The two previous films mentioned above were fictional tales, based on real life experiences. As this filmmaker describes it in her Director’s Statement, “HIVE” is based on the true life story of Fahrije Hoti. In each case, however, all three films are based on human stories that ring true with the central dramatic message they convey. jb