Children occupy a special place at the Berlinale, which rolls around every year in Brandenburg during frosty February. Unlike many other top-tier competition film festivals, Berlin provides a whole strand, Generation – divided into ‘Kplus’ and ‘14plus’ – devoted to films about the world of die kinder. Though crafted by adults, these works have a certain sympathy with the world view of those much younger.

In 2023, at the seventy-third edition of the festival, children also had pride of place in Berlin’s main competition. The coveted Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance went to its youngest ever recipient, nine-year-old Sofía Otero, for her role as trans girl Lucía, in Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren’s 20,000 Species of Bees. (Another Spanish coming-of-age film featuring bee-keeping to rival my favourite The Spirit of the Beehive.)