Isabel Coixet

Isabel Coixet Castillo (; born 9 April 1960) is a Spanish film director. She is one of the most prolific film directors of contemporary Spain, having directed twelve feature-length films since the beginning of her film career in 1988, in addition to documentary films, shorts, and commercials. Her films depart from the traditional national cinema of Spain, and help to “untangle films from their national context ... clearing the path for thinking about national film from different perspectives.” The recurring themes of “emotions, feelings, and existential conflict” coupled with her distinct visual style secure the “multifaceted (she directs, writes, produces, shoots, and acts)” filmmaker's status as a “Catalan auteur.” Early life Isabel Coixet was born in Sant Adrià del Besòs next to Barcelona on 9 April 1960. She started filming when she was given an 8 mm camera on the occasion of her First Communion. After obtaining a BA degree in history at Barcelona University, where she majored in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century History, she worked in advertising and spot writing for the cinema magazine Fotogramas. She continued in the world of advertising, standing out as creative director of the agency JWT. Her clients included BMW, Renault and Ikea. She won several accolades for her spots, but the ads did not fulfill her expectations. Coixet made her first short film in 1984: Mira y verás.