The first film by Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren, ‘20,000 species of bees’, will have its world premiere in the Official Section of the Berlin Festival.
The first feature film written and directed by Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren, ‘20,000 species of bees’, will have its world premiere in the Official Section of the Berlin International Film Festivala historical fact since, in the 73 editions of the Berlinale, it is the first time that a Spanish filmmaker has premiered her debut feature in the Official Selection, where this year it is also the only production from our country.
“Premiering in Berlin is wonderful, a dream that I did not expect at all,” explains Urresola. “I hope this helps the film reach a larger number of people.”
“It is an important milestone for Basque cinema, for all the women who have made this film, for our language and for Estíbalizwho stands out as one of the most interesting new directors of the moment”, points out the producer Lara Izagirre, from Gariza Films.
And it is that ‘20,000 species of bees’ has an artistic and technical team made up almost exclusively of women. The cast is led by the young Sofía Otero, Patricia López Arnaiz (winner of the Goya Award for Best Female Performance for ‘Ane’), Ane Gabarain (‘Patria’), Itziar Lazkano (‘I’m alive’), Martxelo Rubio (‘Maixabel ‘), Sara Cózar (‘Erlauntza’), Miguel Garcés (‘Intimacy’), Unax Hayden (‘Irati’) and Andere Garabieta.
“What captivated me about ‘20,000 species of bees’ was a multi-layered story in the form of a family hive,” says producer Valérie Delpierre of Inicia Films. “I fell in love with this family in which a mother and a daughter fight for their identity from such different places. And it made me think that it’s never too early to be who you are and never too late to be who you want to be.”
The plot introduces us to Cocó who, at the age of eight, does not quite fit in with the world. Everyone around him insists on calling him Aitor but he does not recognize himself in that name or in the eyes of others. His mother Ane (Patricia López Arnaiz) will take advantage of the holidays to travel with her three children to her mother’s house, a place linked to the breeding of bees and the production of honey in which three generations of very different women will face their doubts and fears.
“Bees are for me the guarantors of biodiversity in nature and as the film is a hymn to diversitythey helped me to tell many things at the same time, through, above all, the image of the family hive”, points out the director. “Another important element is the border that the family crosses at the beginning of the film, it is a geographical border and a mental border, which speaks of the difficulties we have in overcoming certain beliefs about ourselves and about the people in front of us.”
‘20,000 species of bees’ will be seen for the first time at the Berlin Festival, which will celebrate its 73rd edition between February 16 and 26. Bteam Pictures will release it in theaters in Spain on April 21.
Source: Fotogramas
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
