The little girl from Basauri, the protagonist of ‘20,000 species of bees’, by the filmmaker Estibaliz Urresola has made history at the festival
It is not every day that the Basque town of Basauri hosts the shooting of a film, nor does a girl from the town become the protagonist of a film. For this reason, the fact that the municipality is one of the main locations for ‘20,000 species of bees’, the ‘opera prima’ by Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren, caused an immense stir in the town. But much more than it will be now that little Sofía Otero, 9 years old, has won the Silver Bear for Best Performance at the Berlinale. Chosen out of more than 500 girls, she made history yesterday by winning one of the main awards at one of the most prestigious film festivals. “Thank you very much for this beautiful award,” she said with great aplomb before the public, before delivering the longest speech of the entire gala.
The film, which deals with the story of a girl who feels trapped in a boy’s body, was filmed, among other locations, in the Finaga neighborhood. “For me it was important because my great-grandmother was from this area,” Urresola explained to this newspaper shortly after filming. ‘20,000 species of bees’ is the first work of the little girl, who was chosen among the half a thousand girls who attended the different castings, which took place since the end of 2019. Another youngster from the town, Maider Sánchez, also performs in the film with a secondary role, a friend of Cocó.
“Sofía embroiders it, she has a great future,” recognized Urresola herself. «She Already in the first test she came totally delivered, she was much younger than she is now. I get very touched when I see her. As they were the first casting we wanted to see more girls and then we decided to stop for a while ». The role was complicated, so it was important to choose the actress well. Sofía passed the tests and she continued to go to the rest of the castings, until she convinced all those responsible for the production and filming began this past summer. “It was a total challenge, a character who had to go through many emotions throughout the film, there were many different registers and the role occupies 90% of the scenes, it was not an easy decision,” summarized the director. Sofia, despite not having artistic training or having participated in a film before, she does show an innate talent and she became “the best option.”
His father, Fernando Otero, acknowledged that “we are very happy and proud of his work and of the entire film team in general.” The film was shot this past summer in Spanish, Basque and a bit of French.
It is the first time in 73 years that a Basque filmmaker has premiered a film in the official section of the Berlinale. That it was recorded in Basauri is a “luxury showcase for the municipality.” “Obviously we put everything on our side and Finaga is also an emblematic environment with history,” they explain from the City Council. When the Consistory learned about the argument and found out that the protagonist was a neighbor of Basauri, the support and collaboration with the producer “was total,” they acknowledge. The cast also includes Patricia López Arnaiz, Ane Gabarain, Miguel Garcés, Itziar Lazkano, Martxelo Rubio and Sara Cózar. The film will be released nationwide on April 29.
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