20,000 Species of Bees

Synopsis

Basque director Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren’s debut feature explores the nuances and complexities of gender identity. A young trans girl questions the binaries in her school, and in turn finds freedom and nourishment after spending summer in the company of her relatives in her mother's home town. This gentle feature observes a mother and a daughter's quest to learn more about themselves, while capturing the diversity of womanhood and what that means to each person. With echoes of Céline Sciamma’s “Tomboy", this sensitive, moving drama, set in the shadows of summer captures a joy that comes from self-discovery. Sofía Otero won the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance at 2023’s Berlin Film Festival.