20,000 Species of Bees

2024 CMU International Film Festival

April 7, 2024 - Cohon University Center

• Reception and Resource Fair: 2:30-4:30; Dowd Conference Room
• Film Screening, 5:00-7:15, McConomy Auditorium
• Post Screening Panel Discussion and Closing Night Ceremony, 7:45-9:30 Danforth Lounge and Conference Room

Please join us in celebrating our vibrant local LGBTQIA+ community for a three-part day of togetherness, sharing and community building centered around the film 20,000 Species of Bees. The film is a gorgeous coming-of-age tale about a young trans girl’s sunbaked summer amongst her great aunt’s apiary in the Basque countryside and the ways that experience shapes her identity and her relationship with her family.

Our first event is a resource fair and reception highlighting the many local associations, organizations, and providers who help bring us all together and keep us safe! There will be local honey to sample, a delicious spread of meat, fish, cheese, and snacks from Spain and France which were generously and lovingly provided by Chantal’s Cheese Shop, and a bunch of lovely faces to enjoy them all with together.

Next, we will head over to McConomy Auditorium for the film screening at 5:00pm. In 20,000 Species of Bees, eight-year-old child Lucia struggles with the fact that people keep addressing her in confusing ways. During a summer trip to her mother’s childhood home, her life and her mother's will change forever. 20,000 Species of Bees is a coming-of-age story that explores the relationship between body, gender, and identity from Lucia and her mother Ane’s point of view throughout the story. It is not just a film about a transgender child, but an intergenerational portrait about identity and acceptance in the family; about the construction of gender relationships; tradition and change; but above all about the need to be loved just as we are.

20,000 Species of Bees aims to destigmatize the cinematographic representation of transgender kids by presenting a complex character, rich in nuances, who not only represents the origin of the conflict but the opportunity for the entire family to meet again and recognize themselves from a more authentic place. 20,000 Species of Bees is directed by Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren; the film is 128 minutes long and is in Spanish, Basque, and French with English subtitles.

After the screening, we will head over to Danforth Lounge and Conference room to enjoy some more snacks and a thoughtful and well-led panel discussion about the film and the experiences of our trans community members. Finally, we will all share our final thoughts on the festival we’ve worked hard to make happen.

This event is co-hosted by the Center for Arts in Society and the Sustainability Initiative.