20,000 Species of Bees

20,000 Species of Bees centres around Lucía, a young girl navigating the world of her family and friends as they comprehend that she is trans. Bees sees Lucía’s family members’ play host to a wide range of reactions from easy acceptance to vehement denial, so there’s moments sweet as honey but points where life begins to sting. Lucía is a six-year-old just trying to get by, all she wants to know is how to be sure of who she is, but everyone around her starts asking more and more questions; the hive goes mad without a Queen keeping it together. Sofía Otero is an incredible performer at the core of the film, as Bees walks a winding path through the beauty of nature and humanity with a few stops along the way at the cruelty of ignorance and intolerance. Eventually you smile through the tears, chin-up, walk on, everything will be alright in the end, if the bees can get through anything then so can Lucía and so can we all.

Daniel Kallin