“In Europe, no one was paying attention”

Abstract

This essay discusses Honeyland’s travels on the international film festival circuit and reflects on the journey in relation to cultural legitimization. Intertwining with debates on the networked nature of the festival circuit, the essay brings to light the connections and disconnections that play into the accumulation of attention on the festival circuit. In the case of Honeyland , this coincides with nominations and awards, festival buzz, hierarchies between different festivals, premiere regulations that condition festival programming, as well as the divide between the North American and European festival circuits. A close analysis of Honeyland on the festival circuit reveals that festivals are much more than mere sites of exhibition. The festival presence of the North Macedonian documentary is linked to its production history as a single-origin film and the international sales and distribution of the documentary intertwine with the accumulation of attention through awards and buzz on the festival circuit. The discussion of Honeyland’s journey on the festival circuit develops into a layered examination of production, exhibition and distribution, where the singular passage of the award-winning documentary is put into relief with the complexity of the film festival circuit.