BAL
aka HONEY

Year: 2010
UK: Verve Pictures
Cast: Bora Atlas, Erdal Besikcioglu, Tulin Ozen, Ayse Altay, Alev Ucarer
Director: Semih Kaplanoglu
Countries: Turkey / Germany
Language: Turkish (German / English subtitles)
UK: 104
UK Certificate: PG contains mild emotional upset
UK Release Date: 15 July 2011 (Limited Release)


Synopsis

Six year old Yusuf (Bora Atlas) has just started at a rural primary school in northeastern Turkey. His father, Yakup (Erdal Besikcioglu), gathers honey by climbing up trees to where the hives are situated. When Yusuf, tags along with his father while he’s working, he finds the forest is full of mystery and adventure. But above all he proudly watches his father who works sometimes higher than the eye can see.

Father and son have a very strong bond and although Yusuf is tongue-tied to the point of stuttering paralysis in social situations, he can read and speak quite clearly when he’s addressing his father. But his classmates target Yusuf because of his stammer and make fun of him. When his father travels to a distant forest to hang his hives in a treacherous mountainous area, Yusuf grows increasing anxious as the days pass and his father doesn’t return home. Eventually a distraught Yusuf summons all his courage and sets off alone into the unknown forest to search for his father.

Third part of the Yusuf trilogy