Basque cinema makes history. The first feature film written and directed by Estibaliz Urresola Solagu, 20,000 species of beeswill have its world premiere in the Official Section of the Berli International Film Festivaln, which will celebrate its 73rd edition between February 16 and 26. Bteam Pictures will release it in theaters on April 21, 2023. It should be remembered that, before, on February 11, the director of praise can get his first Goya for the short film strings.
It is the first time in the 73 editions of the Berlinale that a Basque filmmaker premieres her debut feature in the Official Sectionwhere this year is also the only state production.
Produced by the Basque company Gariza Movies (Nora, Akelarre) and the Catalan Inicia Films (Summer 1993, the girls), and with the associated production of the Basque company Sirimiri Films (dust we are), 20,000 species of bees It is a film that has an artistic and technical team made up almost exclusively of women. The casting is led by the young Sofía Otero in her first film job, Patricia Lopez Arnaiz (winner of the Goya award for Best Female Performance for Ane), Ane Gabarain (Patria), Itziar Lazkano (I am alive)Marcelo Rubio (Maixabel), Sara Cózar (the beehive), Miguel Garcés (Intimidad), Unax Hayden (Irati), Andere Garabieta.
Estibaliz Urresola explains that “opening in Berlin is wonderful, a dream that I did not expect at all. I hope this helps the film reach a greater number of people. Bees are for me the guarantors of biodiversity in nature and since the film is a hymn to diversity, they helped me tell many things at once, through, above all, the image of the family hive. Another important element is the border that the family crosses at the beginning of the film, it’s a geographical border and a mental border, which speaks to the difficulties we have to overcome certain beliefs about ourselves and the people in front of us.”
The producer Lara Izagirre confesses that “it is an important milestone for Basque cinemafor all the women who have made this film, for our language and for Estíbaliz, who stands as one of the most interesting new directors of the moment”.
For her part, producer Valérie Delpierre recalls that “what caught me from 20,000 species of bees it was a story with many layers in the form of a family beehive. 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.”
