Meeting with Arantxa Echevarría What have I done to become a director?
Date and time: Tuesday, Nov. 4th. 7.00 p.m.
Venue/room: Espacio Fundación Telefónica
Free admission with prior registration at:
www.espacio.fundaciontelefonica.com
Simultaneous translation, in sign language and streaming.
Title: What have I done to become a director?
Type of activity: Meeting
Participants:
- Arantxa Echevarría (Spain), director.
Moderator: Elena Manrique, film director and producer and member of the Festival's Programming Committee.
Host: Diego Mas Trelles, director of the festival.
Arantxa Echevarría is a director and screenwriter. Her first feature film, Carmen & Lola, was nominated for eight Goya Awards in 2019, winning two; Best New Director and Best Supporting Actress for Carolina Yuste. The script was also a finalist for the Julio Alejandro Award of the Sociedad General de Autores y Editores (SGAE). In addition, she was selected in 2018 for the Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival, making Arantxa the first Spanish director to be selected for the Fortnight. In 2021, her feature film The Perfect Family was released, a comedy starring Belén Rueda and José Coronado, distributed by Universal and with the participation of Antena 3. The film has been one of the ten highest grossing films of the year and number one on Netflix Spain and number two on Netflix worldwide. She has also directed on television the last chapter of the series The Legend of El Cid and two episodes of When You Least Expect It, both for Amazon Prime. Her latest film Undercover won the Goya for Best Film in 2025, and, among many other awards, the Spanish Competition of the 7th edition of the Madrid Women's Film Festival.
Elena Manrique is an executive producer of more than 25 films, including Kiki, Love to Love, Blue is the Warmest Colour (in co-production), The Orphanage, Pan's Labyrinth and Cell 211. She began her career at Canal + Spain. She has collaborated with numerous festivals and has been part of the Selection Committee of Venice Days (Venice Film Festival). In 2024 she premiered The Party’s Over in Toronto, her first feature film as a director. She won the Pilar Miró Award for Best New Director at the Valladolid Festival and has also participated in numerous festivals.
