The nine-year-old Spanish actress Sofía Otero won the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance at the 73rd Berlinale for ‘20,000 species of bees’, the debut feature by the Álava director Estíbaliz Urresola.
Otero plays an eight-year-old trans girl who moves with her family from Bayonne (France) to a town in the Spanish Basque Country to visit her maternal family. There she will face the gazes of adults who only recognize her with the name and identity of her child, Aitor.
This is the debut of Otero, who has collected the award in tears at the official awards gala of the international jury, chaired by the actress Kristen Stewart and in which the Spanish Carla Simón is also present.
The moment in which actress Kristen Stewart (32 years old), the president of the youngest jury in the 73-year history of the Berlinale, awards the Silver Bear for best performance to the Basque Sofía Otero (9), the most young woman who has been awarded in the 73 years of the Berlinale, was one of the most emotional and special moments of the gala last night.
“Thank you to the jury for granting me this very special prize for me,” said the emotional interpreter, who thanked the film team and her family for the award. In the background, Kristen Stewart watches her moved.
To put the importance of what this young interpreter of Basauri has achieved in context, it is enough to remember that until now, Fernando Fernán Gómez and Victoria Abril were the only Spaniards who had obtained it.
The director of the film explained, in an interview with Europa Press, that the story of ‘20,000 species of bees’ arose from an event that shocked society, especially the Basque Country, since a trans child took his own life in 2018.
“I did not want to tell his story, but I did cling to a letter that he left written, where he evoked with great hope that his decision would lead us to a horizon where those who came after him would have fewer disputes than he had,” he said. Urresola, who has competed with this film in the Official Section of the festival.
On the other hand, Spanish cinema has also been recognized at the Berlinale with the Special Jury Prize in the Encounters section. Paul B. Preciado and Lois Patiño share the award for their proposals ‘Orlando, my political biography’ and ‘Samsara’, respectively.
