Seventeen films, guest directors, and powerful stories: ESFF 2025 returns this October with a sharp look at democracy, marginalisation and identity in Spanish-language cinema.
Spanish cinema in sharp focus
Opening a week from now, The Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival (ESFF) celebrates its 12th edition from 1–19 October, bringing a programme of seventeen films and a series of cultural events to venues in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling, Tranent and Inverness. The majority of titles are Scottish premieres, underlining the festival’s role as the principal showcase of Spanish-language cinema in Scotland.
Festival director Marian A. Aréchaga frames this year’s line-up within a moment of growth: “Spanish cinema is on a high, with the number of films produced in Spain rising steadily in the past few years. At ESFF we are delighted to bring the best of those titles alongside some of the most exciting features from Latin America.”
Democracy’s anniversary and the opening line-up
The 2025 festival coincides with a significant anniversary — fifty years since the re-establishment of democracy in Spain following Franco’s dictatorship. To mark the occasion, Professors Nuria Capdevila and Oliver Escobar will lead an opening roundtable, “50 Years of Democracy in Spain: Perils and Possibilities for a Changing Future”, on 2 October. Their discussion will connect the Spanish transition with wider debates about democracy in today’s uncertain climate.
The opening film follows on 3 October at Edinburgh Filmhouse. Breaking Walls (Los Aitas), directed by Borja Cobeaga, is a road-movie comedy set in 1989 in which fathers from Bilbao reluctantly chaperone their daughters to a gymnastics competition in Berlin. Cobeaga, whose earlier work includes Pagafantas and Negociador, has long been associated with political comedy in Spain. Screened this year at Málaga, Breaking Walls drew warm notices for its balance of humour and reflection on changing gender roles in the late 1980s. The director will attend the Edinburgh screening to introduce the film and take part in a Q&A.
Festival director Marian A. Aréchaga frames this year’s line-up within a moment of growth: “Spanish cinema is on a high, with the number of films produced in Spain rising steadily in the past few years. At ESFF we are delighted to bring the best of those titles alongside some of the most exciting features from Latin America.”
The 47: a true-story centrepiece
Amongst the most visible entries in the programme is The 47 (El 47), directed by Marcel Barrena. The film dramatises the 1978 protest when a Barcelona bus driver commandeered the number 47 bus to demand a route into the isolated neighbourhood of Torre Baró.
The 47 dominated this year’s Gaudí Awards, taking Best Film as well as honours for acting, cinematography and editing. Its success within Spain gives Scottish audiences the chance to see one of the most widely discussed Spanish releases of 2025, rooted in recent history but addressing questions of social exclusion that remain current today.
Diverse perspectives and debut voices
The wider programme spans decades of Spanish history and experience. Celia Rico’s The Good Manners revisits Francoist-era Valencia to explore class and repression. Arantxa Etxevarría’s Undercover examines the fraught fight against ETA in the 1990s. Antonio Giménez Rico’s Dressed in Blue resurrects the stories of trans women in 1980s Spain, a film long regarded as a landmark in queer cinema. And Asier Urbieta’s Pheasant Island, co-presented with the French Film Festival UK, reflects on the dilemmas facing refugees and their allies in contemporary Europe.
Emerging voices are also prominent. Four debut features arrive at the ESFF: Ana Lambarri’s Everything I Don’t Know, Aitor Echeverría’s Dismantling an Elephant, and Gerard Oms’ Away — featuring an early performance by Mario Casas, who has since become one of Spain’s most recognisable actors. Each comes fresh from the festival circuit, offering a glimpse of the new generation of Spanish filmmakers.
Here Aréchaga underlines what drives the programming: “It has been and is an incredible experience to share thoughts, views and ideas with directors, colleagues, students and wonderful interpreters who make the whole thing possible.”
From Peru to the Pyrenees
The reach of ESFF extends beyond Spain. Two recent Peruvian films will screen: Klaudia Reynicke’s Queens, which premiered at Locarno in 2024 and examines the conflicting loyalties of sisters deciding whether to remain in Lima or emigrate to the United States; and Franco García Becerra’s Through Rocks and Clouds, in which an Andean shepherd boy’s excitement for the World Cup collides with the advance of corporate mining. Both films have been noted on the Latin American circuit for their sensitive treatment of social change.
The festival also renews its collaboration with Professor Nuria Capdevila’s CartasVivas, an audiovisual project dedicated to overlooked Spanish women intellectuals.
Here Aréchaga underlines what drives the programming: “It has been and is an incredible experience to share thoughts, views and ideas with directors, colleagues, students and wonderful interpreters who make the whole thing possible.”
Culture, access and community engagement
As in previous years, the ESFF extends beyond cinema into culture and community. Its closing event is a Valencian Supper Club at Tapa in Leith, following the sell-out Basque Supper Club earlier this year.
Educational work remains central. UK schools will be able to stream Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles and The Footballest in classrooms, while Breaking Walls will receive dedicated school screenings in Edinburgh and Manchester.
Accessibility is also prioritised, with hard-of-hearing captioning for Undercover, Breaking Walls and Dismantling an Elephant. A new collaboration with Edinburgh charity The Welcoming introduces “Recording Edinburgh as My Home”, a workshop led by assistant programmer Dr Gustavo Herrera Taboada, which will support asylum seekers and refugees in documenting their own experiences of the city.
A national stage for Spanish cinema
With a programme that moves from Francoist Valencia to contemporary Peru, from Gaudí Award winners to student screenings, the ESFF’s 12th edition shows why Spanish-language cinema continues to demand attention in Scotland.
Running from 1–19 October across Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling, Tranent and Inverness, the festival offers audiences nationwide the chance to see work rarely screened in the UK. For cinephiles, students and curious newcomers alike, it remains one of the most accessible and wide-ranging windows into Spanish and Latin American film culture.
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