Sundance triple award winner HIVE is a searing drama based on the true story of Fahrije, who, like many of the other women in her patriarchal village, has lived with fading hope and burgeoning grief since her husband went missing during the war in Kosovo. In order to provide for her struggling family, she pulls the other widows in her community together to launch a business selling a local food product. Together, they find healing and solace in considering a future without their husbands—but their will to begin living independently is met with hostility.

The men in the village condemn Fahrije’s efforts to empower herself and the women around her, starting a feud that threatens their newfound sovereignty—and the financial future of Fahrije’s family. Against the backdrop of Eastern Europe’s civil unrest and lingering misogyny, Fahrije and the women of her village join in a struggle to find hope in the face of an uncertain future.

Winner of the Audience Award, Directing Award, and World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, HIVE is a pithy, devastating portrait of loss and our uphill journeys to freedom.

(September 20 & 27; Oregon only)

Director's Statement:

“A widow should only do housework, respect her in-laws and stay at home.”

These were the words Fahrije Hoti heard every day as soon as she got a driver’s license and started to provide for her kids, having lost her husband during the last war in Kosovo. I was sitting in my apartment in Brooklyn, NY, trying to finish writing my school project while I was listening to a TV Show from Kosovo. A woman was talking about getting her driver’s license and the whole village gossiping about how she had humiliated her family.

At first, I thought it was a joke. It was funny yet very sad, hard and motivating. Fahrije Hoti, a widow and a mother of two, had to do something to survive, and she did. She got a driver’s license and got a job. Everyone was talking about it and going crazy, but she did it. One day she opened a little business where she employed other widows and now, she produces pickled vegetables sold all around Kosovo. Besides being a woman and a mother myself, I was intrigued by her will and power to not only survive, but to achieve something great and never look back. Her positivity and energy are fascinating.

That is something I want to bring on screen, a strong female character full of colors, a woman protagonist that needs to be seen by Kosovo and a wider audience. Her decision to continue with her life no matter what was confusing, painful, sometimes even funny, but deeply inspiring. She accepted that I wrote the script based on her life story and I believe this personal experience of Fahrije and the widows that work with her in trying to build new lives for themselves can become universal and compelling to a wide audience. While the story is quite painful and sad, it is very empowering; it is about beginnings, change, and how funny life can be in the most serious moments.