An 8-year-old Spanish girl, Sofia Otera, won the Silver Bear for Best Performance at the Berlin Film Festival on Saturday for her role in “20,000 especies de abejas” (“20,000 species of bees” ).
In the film by Spanish director Estíbaliz Urresola, Sofia Otera plays a nine-year-old child who was born a boy and considers himself a girl.
The question of gender and transidentity, on which more and more filmmakers are looking, has been present on several occasions in the prize list.
On receiving her prize, she thanked the jury with tears in her eyes and at the press conference that followed she said to herself “very grateful, very happy“. “I want to dedicate my life to acting“, she added.
Estíbaliz Urresola said it was important for her to choose a girl for this role and not a boy. “It was easier for her. She’s a really smart little girl“, did she say.
The secondary interpretation prize was awarded to an Austrian transsexual actress, Thea Ehre, for her role in “Till The End of The Night”.
This film by German director Christoph Hochhäusler tells a love story between a homosexual police officer and a transsexual in the background of an investigation into a drug dealer.
Upon receiving her award, Thea Ehre thanked her parents for “supporting her and letting her be what she wanted to be“.