The Bee: A Reflection on Women, Land, and Occupation
2024 LANAFF
2024 NYIWF
This documentary follows a feminist group of women beekeepers living on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico. Twenty years have passed since the US Navy stopped using Vieques as a bombing range. Still, the locals continue to live through the legacy of a military that savagely displaced the population and affected the use of their land. Through an ethnographic approach, we accompany the women of the “Colmena Cimarrona” (Maroon Beehive) during one week of their work as they aim to revitalize the land via agriculture and beekeeping.
Directors
Nelson Varas-Díaz
Dr. Nelson Varas-Díaz is a professor of social-community psychology at Florida International University’s Department of Global and Sociocultural Studies. His current research examines the role of extremity in society through the lenses of health and illness, natural and human-made disasters, and communal cultural practices. He also directed the award winning documentaries including Collapse, The Ear, and Acts of Resistance: Heavy Metal Music in Latin America. Together, his films have garnered more than 100 sets of laurels in international film festivals.