2026 Ames Documentary Film Festival

Keeping the Bees is an intimate documentary set in the unexpected wild ecosystems found in the city of London. The film follows two women beekeepers, each with a different approach to beekeeping, as they tend their hives throughout the summer months of 2025. Moving between a community garden and a city farm, the film observes the daily tasks of beekeeping: opening hives, reading the behavior of bees, dealing with loss, and adapting to the fragility of urban nature. Created independently with a minimal setup, the camera remains close and unobtrusive, allowing moments of quiet attention to unfold. The constant sound of buzzing bees draws the viewer into the sensory world of the hive. By juxtaposing two contrasting approaches to beekeeping, the documentary explores the delicate and sometimes unpredictable balance that keeps a colony alive.