Honey Bee is a short visual poem told through a memory, from a survivor's perspective years after a trauma. It's an exploration of how the brain processes life-changing events in linear and non-linear ways, an ode to survivors, a meditation on complicated grief, and a primal scream to wake us -- as a society -- from complacency to people's suffering, especially once the dust has settled and the cameras have found the next major headline.

Writer/Director's Statement: How Honey Bee Came About:

As someone who grew up in an extended family of Holocaust survivors, I have a firsthand understanding of how trauma plays out on future generations: you are conditioned to be strong -- yet angry, fearful, and distrusting.

 

My parents are children of war. They, like Honey Bee's narrator, still grapple with suppression of deeply painful memories. A trauma survivor buries the past as best they can to move forward in a new world but secrets, shame, & guilt, always lurk beneath a shallow surface. 

Whenever I asked about family history, I was told “I can’t remember!” or “There’s nothing to talk about!”  It wasn’t until a 2010 family trip to Budapest, the birthplace of my mother, that I gained a true appreciation of just how much she’d suffered and lost.

 

During the trip, at a busy intersection, my mom froze, physically paralyzed by fear. She began telling of a nightmare she’d had for over 50 years. One she’d never understood: being stuck at an unidentifiable intersection, unable to cross, terrified, and alone.
 

By crossing that intersection, she embraced a truth about trauma: it'll always be there, it's a part of who you now are and who you will become. For her, one nightmare ended once she stepped into the intersection.

 

Over the years, I’ve realized my stories are an attempt to make those difficult connections, to understand things that sometimes don't seem to make sense. Honey Bee is an exploration of trauma, a visit inside the mind of a young survivor, before she's found her crossroads and stepped into the intersection.

The Team Behind Honey Bee:

WRITER/DIRECTOR, HONEY BEE

SANDY GARFUNKEL is a NYC-based writer-director whose shorts have screened at festivals throughout the world, notably the Edinburgh International Film Festival and Dances With Films, and won awards including a BAFTA Scotland New Talent Award for Sound Design.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, HONEY BEE

RANDA KARAMBELAS is an award-winning filmmaker, producer, actor, writer, storyteller and humanitarian living in NYC. She is also the co-founder of Little Spoon, Big Spoon Productions, LLC. 

LITTLE SPOON, BIG SPOON PRODUCTIONS
Honey Bee was made possible through a partnership with Little Spoon, Big Spoon Productions, a production company focused on planting seeds of thought to raise social awareness and encourage compelling dialogue.

Each Little Spoon, Big Spoon project partners with and supports a related non-profit organization. For Honey Bee, they have partnered with Everytown for Gun Safety and The Rebels Project. In the rewards section, you will see opportunities to contribute.

Where We Are Going With Honey Bee...

Our end-goal is two-pronged:

1) To complete the film by year-end for film festival submissions. We will work hard to promote the project and subject matter, to get it to the largest possible audience.

2) To use the short as a "Proof of Concept," raising money to fund a feature film. Our intention is to shoot a feature, that is equally poetic, and explores story and subject matter in greater depth.

How You Can Get Involved...

We're seeking like-minded people to support Honey Bee, and every bit helps. Please look at the "Rewards" page to see the levels of donation, all of which are tax-deductible as permitted by law.

We've funded the short so far with a short-term loan, and need to raise money to cover production and post-production costs, as well as film festival submission fees.

Along with your generous contribution, we ask you to share the campaign with others who may be interested,  "Like" Honey Bee Facebook , & "Follow Us" on Twitter & Instagram!