20.000 especies de abejas

A slow paced family drama which soon becomes a poignant journey of dysphoria, self discovery and accepting one's true self; which has seldom been portrayed with such finesse in the silver screen.

Bit slow to begin with (honestly speaking, I was looking at my watch every 20 mins initially). But once the main storyline developed it never felt boring or slow.

Sofía Otero is outstanding for a 10 year old. So are the actors playing the characters of Mom and Grandma Aunt.

This would probably not go down well with many percentages of the audiences due to it's pacing, lack of suspense and action. But for a cinema lover this is a gem.

As an old, conservative, straight man who rolls his eyes when he hears "What are your pronouns?, I'm not the prime target of a movie about a young boy of confused sexuality. But I greatly enjoyed the film. If this were a Hollywood treatment of the topic, the father would be an alcoholic, former Marine with PTSAD who keeps screaming at the kid "Act like a man." But all the characters here, while not equally sympathetic, are never reduced to such stereotypes. They are all terribly human, struggling how to deal with a situation that baffles and upsets them. The extended family is introduced to us, and its history and skeletons in the closet are explored. The film is likely too long, and it would have been better served by a more severe editor or tighter script. But it's certainly a rewarding two hours and well recommended.

Throughout the film, I grew increasingly amazed at the protagonist's acting - especially for an 8-year-old, she has an immense ability to convey deep emotions on a level I have not seen a child of that age do (at least not that I remember).

The movie itself was a bit of a surprise in the beginning, since I had not read the description and thought it would be a documentary about bees based on the title and picture at the festival I attended. Although very unsuitable for a morning screening considering the intense emotions and drama, it was an overall pleasant surprise that ingrained itself even deeper when I witnessed some of the audience crying and embracing one another after the screening. The film clearly speaks to what many can relate to in one way or another, and dramatizes this with a heart-throbbing achievement.

This delicate and warm film is about gender dysphoria felt and expressed at quite a young age by an eight-year-old child, who is going on a family vacation to visit grandmother and great-aunt. We, as well as the child's mother and other family members, are gradually exposed to these very clear dysphoria expressions and the family's reaction to them.

A few people at the theatre where I watched this were leaving saying how heavy the subject is but I look at it in a different way. What is difficult is how rigid we are with our gender stereotypes and how very much easier and happier life could be without them. In the film, the child was free and happy to talk about her body and the way it works only with the family member who accepted the child, and at those moments the dysphoria was gone. Another thing I like about this careful and slow-paced film is the parallel storyline that had to do with sculpting. I could almost touch the intimacy of this art form and see how, as well as figures and statues, each and every one of us is sculpted by our families and our prejudices or our perseverance and self-acceptance.

Wow! For an actor barely ten years old, this is a masterful performance from Sofía Otero. It's a complex family drama that deals with relationships and identity in a delicate yet potent fashion as a mother "Ane" (Patricia López Arnaiz) leaves her busy husband "Gorka" (Martxelo Rubio) behind and takes their three children on a trip to see her family. Outwardly, they are a normal enough family unit - they have a few financial worries and at times relationships can be a bit strained, but as we get to now them all a bit better, we discover that Otero's character - a young boy ("Aitor") by birth but not by nature is seeking the confidence internally and from those surrounding to truly become "Lucia". Of course this causes consternation amongst the loving, but confused, parents and family at large - apart from her pragmatic and affectionate, beekeeping, great aunt "Lourdes" (Ane Gabarain), who seems to appreciate that the choices being made now by the youngster are visceral and innate. The story allows us to come to our own conclusions about how we might deal with this scenario were we ever to face it - as a child, as a parent, as an extended family member - and, rather effectively here, as a best friend. It has an innocence to it and a poignancy that this young actor encapsulates skilfully and engagingly. Arnaiz, Gabarain and Itziar Lazkano as the grandmother "Lita" all add depth to the characterisations and the narrative here too. It can be a bit on the slow side at times, but somehow that doesn't detract too much from the considered style of storytelling going on here. It's thought-provoking and well worth a watch.