The Vanishing of the Bees
George Langworthy and Maryam Henein have spent most of their careers in documentary making and this week they join forces for their latest project The Vanishing of the Bees.
Vanishing of the Bees explores the mysterious collapse of the bee population across the planet and its greater meaning about mankind’s relationship with the natural world.
The film journeys through the US, Europe and Australia over a period of more than two years, providing a fascinating insight into the tragedy mounting as these crucial pollinators continue to disappear mysteriously and en masse.
I caught up with the filmmakers to take about their movie, the filming process and the disappearance of this vital insect.
- The Vanishing of the Bees is about to be released here in the UK so can you tell me a little bit about the film?
Maryam: The film takes a look at the phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder over a period of about two years and explores how important bees are to all of us and the fact that bees pollinate one in every three bites in the food that we eat. So we looked at the different suspects and the reasons they might be vanishing and how that impacts on us and what we can do to bring them back.
- So what motivated you to spend the last couple of years making this movie?
George: We just heard about this story and felt like it was a compelling story and started a little bit of work on it. But after a couple of months we both realised that this was incredibly important and we left our jobs and put forward all our efforts into making the film because we thought that this was something absolutely crucial for people to know.
We also thought that the documentary form was the best way to let people know because the bee keepers are so amazing they are all philosophers and very interesting and it’s a long complex story that took a while to explain.
Maryam: And knowing also that this would allow us to give back to nature, something that’s in service and good at the end of the day.
- Why are these insects so important?
George: Well bees a re responsible for pollinating one out of every three bites of food we eat they are vital to our system of agriculture and not only that but they are a sentinel of the environment, they are a mirror of the health of the world that we live in.
M: They are part of our psych they are, as one of characters says, they are one of our most ancient allies and they have been with us since the dawn of time, long before us actually, and they have always held these magical properties. There’s so many fascinating things about bees and so many thing we can learn about, they are testament of how we can work for the greater good and work in cooperation.
- Can you tell me a little bit about the filming process?
M: well the film, we have been working on this for nearly three years, it started with a press panel in Los Angeles which led to us going to Arizona then Colorado, we have pretty much gone all over the country. We put a lot of things on credit cards until we finally got some funding and some support we really wanted to make this an international film to show the scope of the problem and show that bees affect all of us where ever we may be.
G: It was very important for us to convey the idea that this is happening all over the world; England, France, German, Australia and we have been filming all over. Initially and basically for the first two years Maryam and I were just making it, the two of us, I’m the cinematographer and we are both co-directors.
So we travelled light and had been living out of our suitcases and shooting and shooting film. As we moved forward and the story gained momentum and we had a lot to show for our work we brought some other amazing people on board; our editors, an Oscar nominated editor called William Gazecki and he was a huge part of making the film, and out British executive producer James Herstein came on board and helped us tremendously with all the support that we have received from Great Britain.
- So can you tell me why these insects are disappearing and what we can do to stop it?
M: It’s a complex issue and it’s hard to say in one article but there are lots of theories, it’s not just one think it depends where you are in the world, but we suspect that the main culprit are the pesticides that weaken the immune system of the bee and throw the bee off the edge and they can succumb to viruses.
- The film features a string of experts and bee keepers so how keen were they to contribute to the movie?
G: We have had a great response from all of our subjects they have given us tremendous access, we have been very fortunate, but with some difficulty because these are very busy people and obviously this bee crisis has made great demands on their time already, much for them to take time off and do an interview. But they all felt that it was very important.
But that was another approach that we thought was crucial to telling the story properly was not to just look at it from one person’s point of view we had scientists, commercial bee keepers, holistic bee keepers and we also have Michael Pollan, who is a tremendous voice as a journalist and author and we had to schedule his interview a year in advance but his contribution was enormous.
We really feel like we have the top people in every field to try and present these different opinions that they share but ultimately, although there is a lot of different theories and different opinions and different thing contributing to the decline of the bee, ultimately everyone agrees this modern farming system is really at the root.
M: But we also had to be persistent yes the bee keepers gave us access but one of the reasons that they are bee keepers is because they like to be alone in nature and with their bees and we had to try and show up and bug them.
G: Also they gave us access to some experimental studies they were doing, they are going into Washington DC and government hearings, and we got a lot of behind the scenes access that we were very privileged to have which we think adds a lot to our film.
M: At first they would kind of shoot us off but then after a year they were like ‘oh these guys are still around’.
G: I think that’s true we did our initial interviews and we got to know them personally and I think that documentary really benefited from the fact that we befriended these key players and they warmed up to us and gave us more access to the backroom stuff that they are doing on this subject.
They are all walking line, particularly with the scientists and anything a scientist tells us, they have to have a peer review process and their careers are on the line and if they take one false step they will be attacked from all sides from these massive co-operations who have a lot of money at stake and will do anything possible to discredit them.
M: And these bee keepers, with bees we use the term worker bees, but these guys work so hard and because of Colony Collapse Disorder, for instance this year studies that have shown up are showing that the bees are doing better, the only reason why they are doing better is because the commercial bee keepers have grown savvy to what is killing them, they have kept them away from big agriculture where the pesticides are being used, they are splitting the bees and are spending so much money and working so hard.
- And if these insects disappeared what would be the impact?
M: Like we say in the film do you like rice? We would be eating very bland food like corn and rice and wheat and we wouldn’t have the diversity of cherries, onions carrots, cucumbers…
G: Apples, broccoli all these staple vegetables in our diet. And there’s a quote that’s attributed to Einstein, and it doesn’t really matter who said it. ’when the bees disappears mankind has four years left’ they are a sentinel to the environment they are considered an indicator species that mirror the health of our environment so they disappear we would immediately lose our food but it would have a much greater impact and consequences on the environment and the health of our planet.
M: They are a big cog in the system and they keep it together.
- Both of you have worked extensively in documentaries so what is it about this film genre that you enjoy?
M: I have been watching documentaries since I was a young girl and I always say that the truth is better than fiction. I love watching documentaries because I love getting to know characters and things that might seem mundane but just getting to know human life, if I could I would just go knocking on people’s doors and go into their homes and snoop around because I find human psychology fascinating, I just love documentaries.
G: I do to and I think that documentaries are really coming to the forefront of the film arena and people, not just Maryam and I, love documentaries and there’s a DVD rental company, much like Blockbuster, in the States called Netflix and the owner noticed how many people are renting documentaries and he started to fund them himself.
I think documentaries are really answering the hunger from the audience about having a really good story told really well as the media has so much entertainment news and people are looking for this short quick bite on TV and radio and there are a lot of subjects that need more time than that to explain thoroughly, and the bees is one of them. People really love documentaries because they just really want to know about things in depth.
M: And it’s real they can resonate with what they see and, to be honest, there are so many crappy movie out there thank god there are documentaries and hopefully they will gain more and more respect. I’m always amazed at how much money is thrown at these horrible Hollywood movies and yet these documentary filmmakers who are really trying to make an impact and better the world have to scrounge around for funds.
G: But it’s our challenge as filmmakers to have something that’s entertaining, interesting and inspirational. The thing about our film and our challenge is, and we have worked very very hard, a film that is enjoyable to watch but will also appeal to an audience and not just be a dry scientific stream of data about bees. We are trying to tell a story that is interesting, fun, has some good music, graphics and has a lot of colourful people.
- So ultimately what do you hope this film will achieve?
G: Our main hope is that it will raise awareness about this modern agriculture system that is very problematic and that use of pesticides causes problems for human health as well as bee health, there’s such a huge number of little things involved and I think that people are concerned, people care and have the capacity to do something and will do something they just need to know about this issue.
M: I hope that people will have a greater awareness and connection with the food that they eat and a greater respect for an insect, when we started doing this film it never dawned me that bees make honey for themselves you think they make honey for us you don’t realise that they pollinate our food. So number one is to educate the masses and we have a mandate to show this film in schools and we want to show it all around the world and DVDs and ultimately it will be shown free online.
There are other documentaries that are really heavy handed that make people leave feeling depressed but we wanted to empower people to realise they don’t have to rely on the government to make a change they can make a change right away.
- Finally what’s next for the both of you?
G: We both have a great concern about the environment and what is going on in the world and have been working very hard to better the world through documentary films and writing, I personally am developing a project about diet and health, I think there are a massive number of health problems particularly in the U.S. due to the food that we eat, I’m working on a project called the Kitchen Prescription that will provide people with a way to help better their health without having to rely on taking a pill.
M: And for me I have been keeping a blog for two and a half year, which can bee read on vanishing bees.com, and I want to write a book that documents the story and my personal journey of making this movie. I have bees now and I would like to change legislation in Los Angeles, it’s illegal to keep bees, and encourage people to keep gardens and there’s an itch out there as more and more people want to keep a hive. Again I have also been looking studying nutrition for a year and would love to make more documentaries that make a difference and serve the planet.
The Vanishing of the Bees is released 9th October.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
George Langworthy and Maryam Henein have spent most of their careers in documentary making and this week they join forces for their latest project The Vanishing of the Bees.
Vanishing of the Bees explores the mysterious collapse of the bee population across the planet and its greater meaning about mankind’s relationship with the natural world.
The film journeys through the US, Europe and Australia over a period of more than two years, providing a fascinating insight into the tragedy mounting as these crucial pollinators continue to disappear mysteriously and en masse.
I caught up with the filmmakers to take about their movie, the filming process and the disappearance of this vital insect.
- The Vanishing of the Bees is about to be released here in the UK so can you tell me a little bit about the film?
Maryam: The film takes a look at the phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder over a period of about two years and explores how important bees are to all of us and the fact that bees pollinate one in every three bites in the food that we eat. So we looked at the different suspects and the reasons they might be vanishing and how that impacts on us and what we can do to bring them back.
- So what motivated you to spend the last couple of years making this movie?
George: We just heard about this story and felt like it was a compelling story and started a little bit of work on it. But after a couple of months we both realised that this was incredibly important and we left our jobs and put forward all our efforts into making the film because we thought that this was something absolutely crucial for people to know.
We also thought that the documentary form was the best way to let people know because the bee keepers are so amazing they are all philosophers and very interesting and it’s a long complex story that took a while to explain.
Maryam: And knowing also that this would allow us to give back to nature, something that’s in service and good at the end of the day.
- Why are these insects so important?
George: Well bees a re responsible for pollinating one out of every three bites of food we eat they are vital to our system of agriculture and not only that but they are a sentinel of the environment, they are a mirror of the health of the world that we live in.
M: They are part of our psych they are, as one of characters says, they are one of our most ancient allies and they have been with us since the dawn of time, long before us actually, and they have always held these magical properties. There’s so many fascinating things about bees and so many thing we can learn about, they are testament of how we can work for the greater good and work in cooperation.
- Can you tell me a little bit about the filming process?
M: well the film, we have been working on this for nearly three years, it started with a press panel in Los Angeles which led to us going to Arizona then Colorado, we have pretty much gone all over the country. We put a lot of things on credit cards until we finally got some funding and some support we really wanted to make this an international film to show the scope of the problem and show that bees affect all of us where ever we may be.
G: It was very important for us to convey the idea that this is happening all over the world; England, France, German, Australia and we have been filming all over. Initially and basically for the first two years Maryam and I were just making it, the two of us, I’m the cinematographer and we are both co-directors.