HIVE – SLIFF Review

A triple winner at Sundance and Kosovo’s official submission for the Oscars, HIVE is one of several outstanding international films featured at this year’s St Louis International Film Festival.

Writer/director Blerta Bashollo’s HIVE is her feature film debut. The moving drama about women in Kosovo struggling in the aftermath of war is based on a true story about one of the many women left in limbo when their husbands disappeared during the war. Fahrije (Yllka Gashi) continues her endless search for her missing husband, showing up as mass graves or buried clothing are found periodically by aid workers, but with little hope of finding him. At the same time, she also struggles to support her two children and her wheelchair-bound father-in-law by tending the beehives her husband once cared for, while her elderly father-in-land sells the honey at the local market, But the bees are not as productive now in the devastated landscape, and sales of honey bring a meager income for the family.

Fahrije also works for a local organization that tries to help other women in her small village, women and families left in the same limbo by missing husbands and fathers. As long as their deaths are not confirmed, the women are not widows, although in practical terms they are. As long as there is the chance their husbands might be alive, she and the other widows face harsh restrictions in the male-dominated traditional culture of her village, including vehement opposition to learning to drive or having a job.

Despite these threats, the desperate Fahrije starts a home-based food business, making a popular local condiment of peppers for a grocery store in a nearby city. The little business faces angry backlash from the men in the village and vicious gossip, but it also gives her and the other widows a means to survive, and hope.

HIVE is a touching, inspiring drama about the power of sisterhood, filled with fine performances, particularly by star Yllka Gashi, and an insightful glimpse into another culture and an inspiring look at a world of women enduring and succeeding under tough circumstances. One of the best touches in this uplifting drama are the shots of the real Fahrije shown with with the end credits.

HIVE, in Albanian with English subtitles, plays SLIFF on Nov. 5 at 1pm and Nov. 6 at 7pm at the Tivoli Theater. See the SLIFF website, https://www.cinemastlouis.org/sliff/festival-home, for tickets and other information. Covid procedures are in place, so all audience members must show proof of Covid vaccination and wear masks.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars