He is making his feature debut at the Berlinale with the provocative film 20000 Species of Bees. The story follows a girl who inhabits a body traditionally read as male, raising questions about identity, society, and the labels that shape our lives. The film acknowledges social deprivation and incomprehension from the people around her — mother, father, siblings, aunt, grandmother — and uses a rich symbolic language blended with pedagogy and clear didactic moments to explore how carelessness on this issue persists. The project arrives as a nuanced response to ongoing social debates, and it confronts statistics that seem to work against the story’s voice. The Berlinale crowd is known for surprising shifts, and this work arrives at a moment when stranger things often become headlines.
In this film, the arc of Aitor becoming Lucía is central. The director explains a key casting choice: the character is always a girl. The transformation is not about a change in gender at the character level but about the capacity of language to express what happened. At eight years old, the child cannot fully grasp the external world or articulate realities that exist beyond their immediate experience. The narrative also reflects how a family adapts when they must stop treating the child as dependent and begin recognizing a different truth about who they are.
Director Estíbaliz Urresola is in Berlin with the cast, a moment that captures the collaborative effort behind the project. Clemens Bilan serves as the visual chronicler in this production cycle.
The film presents the situations, prejudices, and misunderstandings that arise around a case like Lucía’s in a subtle, preliminary, and revealing way. What kind of ending should a story like this have? The research journey makes clear that when families confront such questions, they reveal the foundations of the social order that we often assume to be natural rather than constructed. The film invites reflection without claiming to offer a single definitive answer.
When asked about the questions eight year olds pose to their parents, the responses may seem naive but are actually pointed toward the core of social norms. The movie mirrors this dynamic, inviting audiences to consider the unseen boundaries drawn by children and the larger society that rarely questions them. It does not pretend to have one simple resolution.
Which questions matter most? Everyone, even a child, has the right to live and be understood in terms of their own identity. The story argues for space to challenge the categories imposed from birth and to explain why those categories sometimes feel outmoded. It envisions a more tolerant future and a broader spectrum of human experience.
A scene from 20000 Species of Bees depicts a small, close-knit community where women from three generations carry the narrative, and men are either absent or in the background. The film invites viewers to reflect on femininity and how being a woman can take many forms. Lucía asserts her identity by using recognizable feminine codes while also revealing the pressure and expectations tied to female subjectivity within a patriarchal system. The result is a portrait of individuals whose desires and voices have often been limited or dismissed, highlighting the need for a wider recognition of diverse experiences.
The film arrives at a time when Spain has enacted new social laws in support of gender recognition. It prompts discussion about how such reforms affect public discourse and personal lives. The process of debate and terminology often brings groups together to articulate needs and rights that have not always been guaranteed in a democratic society. This momentum, supported by newer generations, signals ongoing progress and continued development.
Regarding feminist perspectives that resist legislative changes, the response is nuanced. There is no single form of feminism, and various strands emphasize different ways of understanding otherness and rights. The work suggests that feminism should include voices from diverse identities, including trans women and trans men, without compromising the historical fight for women’s rights. The goal is a more inclusive conversation that strengthens human rights for everyone.
While discussing the Berlinale competition, the film evokes the precedent set by Carla Simón’s Alcarràs, which won the Golden Bear just a year earlier. The bigger takeaway is the rising prominence of Spanish cinema led by women filmmakers. This visibility helps create space for ongoing action in schools, institutions, and broader cultural discourse. The recognition is welcome, even as the work acknowledges there is more work ahead.
In this interview-style conversation, the emphasis remains on how cinema can illuminate identity, family dynamics, and social change. It is a thoughtful, human-centered exploration of what it means to live as one’s true self and to demand recognition within a community that often hesitates to redefine itself.