In the steep mountain jungles of Nepal’s Hongu river valley, members of the isolated Kulung culture have risked their lives for generations scaling dangerous cliffs to collect a wild and toxic honey. Deep and dark, the film glides through a misty world of forest spirits, dreams, and woodsmoke to share the story of the leader of the harvest and his final journey.
We owe our access to this story and the trust of the Kulung community to the decade of work the dZi Foundation dzi.org has done in this remote region of Nepal.
A co-production by camp4collective.com and feltsoulmedia.com, in association with the dZi Foundation and National Geographic
Read the National Geographic story here by Mark Synnott with photographs by Renan Ozturk: nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/07/honey-hunters-bees-climbing-nepal/
For a behind the scenes glimpse of the making of the film, here's an edit by Renan Ozturk for The North Face: youtube.com/watch?v=QL-0TAw5rjg
Crew
Directed and Edited by Ben Knight
Principle Cinematography by Ben Knight and Renan Ozturk
Produced by Ben Ayers, Renan Ozturk and Travis Rummel
Associate Producer — Jeff Resnick
Additional Cinematography — Matt Irving, Ben Ayers, Taylor Rees
Aerial — Renan Ozturk
Awards
The Cartel Award for Best Documentary* | Camden International Film festival
Grand Prize | Krakow Mountain Film Festival
Best Film Mountain Culture | Banff Mountain Film Festival
Best Culture and Nature Film | Bilbao Mendi Film Festival
Best Visuals | Kendall Mountain Film Festival
Best Short Documentary | Bend Film festival
Audience Choice Award | Katmandu International Film Festival
Best Cinematography | New York Wild Film Festival
Audience Choice Short Documentary | Thessaloniki International Film Festival
Academy Award qualifying | Short Documentary Competition 2019
