EDINBURGH SPANISH FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES RETURN FOR 12TH EDITION
The festival, which will run in Edinburgh and other locations throughout October, will feature a handful of premieres, special screenings and one-off events
Kevin Fullerton | 11 September 2025
The Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival (ESFF) has unveiled the programme for its 12th edition, with events taking place in Edinburgh, Tranent, Glasgow, Stirling and Inverness from Wednesday 1 – Sunday 19 October. Boasting 17 screenings (the majority of which are Scottish premieres), the festival will also play host to a swathe of guests, roundtable discussions and cultural events to provide a holistic view of Spanish language cinema.
At the festival’s core is the reestablishment of Spanish democracy 50 years ago, with an opening roundtable discussion titled ‘50 Years of Democracy In Spain: Perils And Possibilities For A Changing Future’, where Professors Nuria Capdevila and Oliver Escobar will reflect on the legacy of the Spanish transition and what we can learn from it.
Following the discussion will be an opening screening of Breaking Walls, Borja Cobeaga’s road movie about a group of reluctant fathers escorting their daughters from Bilbao to Berlin for a gymnastics competition. Cobeaga will be present to introduce the film and to attend a post-screening Q&A.
The programme will also cover many pivotal moments in Spanish and Latin American contemporary history, with films like The Good Manners (pictured above) highlighting classism in Francoist-era Valencia or The 47 highlighting the struggles of internal migrants in Barcelona.
Also in the mix will be audio-visual projects, a series of screenings for schools, and a Valencian Supper Club at Tapa Restaurant in Leith, featuring a host of special cocktails and dishes inspired by Valencian cuisine.
Marian A Aréchaga, the director of ESFF, said: ‘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. 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.’
This has been a big week for film festival announcements. The Scottish Queer International Film Festival also announced its full line-up yesterday, featuring more than 90 short films across 19 programmes. Read more about that here.
Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival, various venues, Wednesday 1 – Sunday 19 October.
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