Roundtable with Daniel Sánchez Arévalo, Rodrigo Espinel, Judith Fernández & Nuria Capdevila Argüelles

This year, the ESFF is proud to present 'In Conversation with Spanish Cinema'.

Meet our wonderful speakers:

Daniel Sánchez Arévalo: an award-winning Spanish filmmaker, screenwriter and novelist, Daniel Sánchez Arévalo is one of the leading voices in contemporary Spanish cinema. Following the success of his short films, he made his feature debut with DarkBlueAlmostBlack (AzulOscuroCasiNegro), which won three Goya Awards. He has since directed acclaimed films including Fat People (Gordos), The Great Spanish Family (La gran familia española), Seventeen (Diecisiete), and Rondallas, celebrated for their warmth, humour and emotionally rich storytelling and part of ESFF2026.

Rodrigo Espinel: film producer whose work focuses on developing and delivering ambitious Spanish and international productions. He has collaborated on projects across independent cinema and television, supporting emerging talent while helping bring distinctive Spanish stories to audiences worldwide.

Judith Fernández: Scottish-Spanish actor from Galicia who spent much of her childhood in Edinburgh, making her trilingual in Spanish, Galician and English. She began acting as a teenager and has quickly established herself as one of Spain's most exciting emerging talents. Her screen credits include Santo, Apagón, Acacias 38, The Asunta Case (El Caso Asunta), La casa entre los cactus, and Matusalén. She stars as Andrea in Daniel Sánchez Arévalo's latest feature, Rondallas, continuing a career that bridges film, television and theatre.

Our roundtable will be hosted by two excellent academics:

Nuria Capdevila-Argüelles: Professor of Hispanic and Gender Studies at the University of Exeter. Her research focuses on Spanish cultural history, women's writing, memory and feminism. A regular commentator on Spanish culture, she has published widely on twentieth- and twenty-first-century Spain and is committed to bringing academic perspectives into public conversations.

Mar Diestro-Dópido is a film critic, researcher and author specialising in Spanish and European cinema. She regularly contributes to the BFI’s Sight & Sound and has written extensively on Spanish filmmakers and film culture. She is the author of Pan’s Labyrinth for the BFI Film Classics series and holds a PhD in film festivals, cinema and cultural exchange. Her work explores Spanish cinema, film festivals, criticism and international cultural exchange.

Description supplied by the event organiser.