20,000 Species of Bees (2024)
Director: Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren Run Time: 128 min. Release Year: 2023
Starring: Ane Gabarain, Itziar Lazkano, Patricia López Arnaiz, Sara Cózar, Sofía Otero
Country: Spain
Language: Spanish, Basque, French
About the film:
Winner of the Silver Bear Grand Jury prize, 2023 Berlin International Film Festival
In a small, sleepy village in the Basque Country, 8-year-old Lucia experiences a transformative summer alongside her mother’s family. Sun soaked and transparent, Lucia engages in faltering, anxious, and frustrating endeavors, seeming almost to tumble into the reality of her true self and her gender identity. Parallel to Lucia’s adolescent struggle for assertion, her mother Ane strains against the weight of her father’s career in the arts to find her own expressive authenticity. A subtle tension builds for both mother and daughter as they win the confidence to push free of ill-fitting molds; intrepidly pushing to secure acceptance and peace within the droning hum of their apiary community.
“Extraordinary for its sensitivity and perception, Estibollz Urresolo Sologuren’s story of an 8-year-old girl’s growing discomfort with being perceived as a boy is a landmark in the filmic discussion of gender, sexuality and identity. “
—Deborah Young, The Film Verdict
About the filmmaker:
Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren is a Spanish writer, director, and producer. Her short film Chords (2022) premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and went on to win awards at various other festivals. 20,000 Species of Bees (2024), her debut feature film, premiered at the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Bear Grand Jury prize.
See our upcoming films