Monday, January 15, 2024

20,000 Species of Bees - Sunday 21st January 5pm

 

A beautiful, gentle film about family, identity and so much more, which won its star, Sofia Otero the Best Actress award at the Berlin Festival… not bad for an 8 year old. Sofia plays Cocó, the youngest son of Ane, who is having problems with her marriage. When Ane takes her family to visit her own mother Lita in Spain, her own identity as a sculptor is thrown into doubt by Lita. Coco meanwhile is more and more sure he is a girl in a boy's body; the only person to accept this is her great aunt Lordes, who is happy with her bees, and with calling her Lucía. So...Pretty well the whole family have identity problems of their own.

With this gentle, empathic picture, [director] Urresola joins a conversation that usually plays out as a screaming match, and tones it down to a murmur. It turns out that you hear a lot more that way" - Wendy Ide, Guardian.