Nine Spanish actors and directors to watch

Spanish actors and directors on the cusp of international success tell Elisabet Cabeza and Emilio Mayorga about the films they want to make and with whom they want to make them.

David Castillo - Actor

Castillo had an auspicious start to his career, working as a child actor in films including The 7th Day by Carlos Saura and Bear Cub (Cachorro) by Miguel Albaladejo, which premiered at the Berlinale in 2004. But 2025 is proving to be “special”, he says. Castillo has wrapped two features that will further showcase his acting range. 

First up is Ulises Porra’s Under The Same Sun, which debuted at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. A co-production between Spain’s Fasten Films and the Dominican Republic’s Alta Isla Films, the feature is set in the early 19th century and sees Castillo play the scion of a wealthy Spanish family who travels to the Caribbean to set up a factory producing high-quality silk. 

The experience was an eye-opener for the actor. “I love the way Ulises works, looking for subtlety and restraint,” he says. “He recommended Celine Sciamma’s Portrait Of A Lady On Fire to show what he was looking for. I had never worked like this.” 

Castillo — whose recent credits include Prime Video’s Spanish series Cochinas, set in a porn-video store — is gearing up to be part of the ensemble for feature comedy Aída Y Vuelta, inspired by TV series Aída in which Castillo appeared for 10 years. He reunites with fellow Aída stars Carmen Machi and Paco Leon, who direct the film, which is produced by Globomedia, part of Mediapro Studio, and Telecinco Cinema.
Contact: Tandem Talent  

Carlos Gonzalez - Actor 

“My mother went into labour while watching The Silence Of The Lambs, so we could say film has been with me right from the start,” says Gonzalez, with a smile. He moved to Madrid to study acting just as he turned 18 in 2014, “dreaming of working with Pedro Almodovar”. 

So far, so good. Gonzalez is filming what could be a breakthrough role in The Black Ball (La Bola Negra) by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo (aka Los Javis), which started shooting in August. The feature is inspired by the life of poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca, who was executed by the Nationalist forces for his homosexuality in 1936. Penelope Cruz is part of the cast, and the film is produced by Movistar Plus+ with Suma Content Films and France’s Le Pacte. 

An ardent fan of Lorca’s work, Gonzalez feels the weight of responsibility that comes with being in a film, he says, “that’s extremely relevant to a generation of people who lost their loved ones because of fascism”. 

“It’s an honour to be part of a film that pays tribute to Lorca and a collective that was persecuted and murdered.” 

Gonzalez has worked consistently in theatre and TV, the latest project being series Mariliendre, a queer musical comedy released in April by Atresplayer and also produced by Los Javis. “They [Los Javis] embrace diversity and make roles available to people who don’t have normative looks, who are not cisgender and hetero­normative. People like me.”
Contact: Gemma Garcia, Mesala

Natalia Huarte - Actress 

A literature teacher’s passion for theatre triggered Huarte’s interest in acting, and she has not looked back since moving from Pamplona to attend drama school in Madrid. Now she is an established theatre talent and last year won the Max award for best actress (the Spanish equivalent to the UK’s prestigious Olivier theatre awards) for her performance of Sarah Kane’s monologue 4.48 Psychosis. Then came the mini­series Querer, which propelled her to the top of casting agents’ new-talent lists. 

Directed by Alauda Ruiz de Azua for Movi­star Plus+, Querer premiered last year at San Sebastian International Film Festival, and is the story of a woman who reports her husband of 30 years for repeated sexual assault; Huarte plays the wife of the couple’s eldest son.  

She treasures the experience of working with Ruiz de Azua: “Alauda is a magician with actors. She knows exactly what she’s looking for and has got the rare ability to be rigorous and generous at the same time.” 

Huarte now has two series due for release: Movi­star Plus+’s Por Cien Millones, based on the true story of the kidnapping of Spanish footballer Quini by three unemployed car mechanics in 1981, and the psychological thriller Innato for Netflix. 

Most recently Huarte filmed Diego Llorente’s Pájaro Que Agoniza over the summer before moving straight on to her next feature, details of which were under wraps as Screen International went to press.
Contact: Borial Management  

Alba Saez  - Actress 

“I don’t recall a time when I didn’t want to become an actress,” says Saez. “Acting and dancing were always a childhood dream.” She has been able to explore both disciplines on the Spanish theatrical scene and is now taking a decisive step into film and TV. 

Corredora, the debut feature from Laura Garcia Alonso, marks Saez’s first lead role. She plays an elite middle-distance runner who suffers a psychotic episode. “This character is a perfectionist, obsessed with achieving her goals,” explains Saez, who trained for a year with an athletics coach and spent many hours at the gym preparing for the role.  

“I learnt the full meaning of the word ‘tired’,” she says, with a laugh. “There was also training on the psychological side to discover what kind of world the character goes into after the psychotic episode.” 

Corredora is now in post-production, produced by Distinto Films, Elastica and Dos Soles Media. The production companies have a track record with new talent: Distinto produced Eva Libertad’s Berlinale 2025 title Deaf; Elastica shepherded Carla Simon’s 2022 Golden Bear winner Alcarràs; and Dos Soles Media backed Simon’s Cannes 2025 Competition title Romería. 

Saez does not plan to continue middle-distance running for fun. The trained dancer has returned to her classes but the role in Corredora has left a craving for the next challenge. “I’m hungry for more,” says the actress, who has a Spanish TV series and a feature lined up.
Contact: Laura Gonzalez, Calabuch 

Gabriel Azorin - Director 

Azorin’s feature debut Last Night I Conquered The City Of Thebes premiered this year in Venice Film Festival’s Giornate degli Autori, picking up prizes for screenplay and cinematography. Produced by Spain’s Dvein Films and Filmika Galaika with Portugal’s Bando à Parte, it was developed at the Basque Country’s Elias Querejeta Zine Eskola and participated in the Ikusmira Berriak residency at San Sebastian in 2020. 

The story follows two Portuguese boys who, on a freezing winter afternoon, cross the Spanish border with friends in search of an ancient Roman thermal bath. “There is something mysterious about these baths, as if the water influences the boys’ mood, giving courage to say things they have never told anyone,” says Azorin. “Drama allows me to show characters expressing things I haven’t dared say to my own friends. I want to explore intimacy between men and portray masculinity at its most vulnerable.” 

A founding member of the lacasinegra filmmaking collective — which includes Elena Lopez Riera, whose The Water premiered in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in 2022 — Azorin’s credits include short film Greyhounds and medium-length documentary The Mutants. 

“Every film is a battle against time,” he says. “Cinema captures life’s fleetingness yet lives in eternity. I love humanistic, mysterious films, ones that explore language without solemnity, but most of all, films that linger and leave you wanting to be better. That elusive quality is what I’ll keep chasing in my next project, a love story.”
Contact: Filmika Galaika  

Claudia Cedo Castillo - Director 

Until recently, Barcelona-based Cedo Castillo’s career has centred around writing and directing for theatre. Underpinned by a background in psychology, her work focuses on mental health, neurodivergence and functional diversity, especially in young people. 

Executives from Lastor Media saw Cedo Castillo’s play Mother Of Sugar (Mare De Sucre) in 2024, and invited her to adapt it as a short film. Excited if a little apprehensive, cinephile Cedo Castillo was encouraged by her producers to make the leap into filmmaking. Lastor Media has a track record of shepherding new talent, having worked with prize-winning filmmakers including Elena Martin (Creatura, Directors’ Fortnight, Cannes 2023) and Carlos Marques-Marcet (They Will Be Dust, Toronto Platform 2024). 

Following a successful festival run for Mother Of Sugar, Lastor Media has teamed with Suica Films to develop Cedo Castillo’s feature debut. It takes on the story of the titular protagonist, “a 35-year-old woman with an intellectual disability embarking on a somewhat clumsy but deeply personal rebellion to become a mother”, explains the director. “The idea came while working with actresses with disabilities. Our conversations around mother­hood shaped the story.” Cedo Castillo cites her cinematic touchstones, such as the poignant, epic quality of John Cassavetes’ A Woman Under The Influence and the humanist urgency seen in Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake.
Contact: Ariadna Dot, Lastor Media 

Pedro Diaz - Director

Galician filmmaker Diaz, who studied at Barcelona’s Bande à Part film school, has built a reputation with short films including 2022 Goya nominee La Entrega and 2013’s Guesthouse. He has further honed his skills by directing commercials for clients including Movistar Plus+ and Mediapro. 

Diaz is making his feature-directing debut with Serenade, developed by Spain’s Salon Indien Films, Mandragora Cinema and Matriuska Producciones in collaboration with Portugal’s Nu Boyana.  

Mandragora Cinema’s credits include Sleepless City, the Cannes 2025 Critics’ Week title written by director Guillermo Galoe with Victor Alonso-Berbel, who together penned the screenplay for Serenade. 

Set in rural Galicia in the 1990s, the story follows Maria who wants to fulfil her dying mother’s wish to see her granddaughter Lola make her first communion. However, Maria is an atheist and single mother, and 12-year-old Lola has not even been inside a church since her baptism. 

“I want to explore the role of religion in Galician society, where faith may not be fervent but the notions of sin, guilt and suffering are deeply rooted,” says Diaz. “But I want to do so while avoiding the clichés of the intimate rural drama. My goal is to create a portrait where drama meets comedy, infused with the irony and wry humour that defines us Galicians as a people.”
Contact: Pablo de la Chica, Salon Indien Films  

Roc Espinet - Director 

Animator, comic-book creator and director Espinet has been a regular collaborator of US animation studio Titmouse since 2015, working on Deadly Class for Sony/Syfy and Chris Prynoski’s feature Nerdland among other productions. He has contributed to SpongeBob SquarePants for Nickelodeon and provided stylised designs for Epic’s online videogame Fortnite. 

In Spain, Espinet’s credits as an animator include Alberto Vazquez’s Birdboy: The Forgotten Children and Unicorn Wars, which both won the Goya award for best animated feature in 2017 and 2023 respectively. Espinet has also authored graphic novels Girl And Wolf and Harpoon.  

He is nearing completion on his feature debut, based on Girl And Wolf, which is being sold by Latido Films. The story is a “female-driven, lyrical reimagining of the werewolf myth”, according to the filmmaker. “It’s a wild fable about transformation, instinct and redemption.” 

The Hampa Studio, Sygnatia and Alessa Producciones co-pro combines traditional 2D animation with 3D environments created with Blender. Espinet is also developing an animated series for Prime Video with Nexus Studio. “It is a frenetic urban adventure where kung-fu, ghosts and overflowing emotions come together, with music playing a central role,” says Espinet.  

“The animation I champion is handcrafted and soulful, built around strong characters and real emotion. My style aims to blend the physical energy of traditional 2D with bold visuals, intense narratives and a sense of rhythm.”

Contact: Alex Cervantes, Hampa Studio  

Maria Herrera Lopez - Director 

The comic tone of Pedro Almodovar’s films and the stylised realism of Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai Du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, have inspired Since You’ve Gone, the debut feature from Herrera Lopez, which won the Madrid Film Office and Filmin awards at this year’s ECAM Forum in Madrid.  

The film follows the spirited 60-something Luisa, who struggles to find purpose after the death of her beloved 100-year-old mother. “It intertwines themes such as the invisibility of care work, ageing, mental health and mother-­daughter bonds,” says Herrera. “I look for humour and a restorative approach to cinema that speaks to my mother, her friends and all the Luisas out there.” 

Having studied journalism and audio­visual communication, Herrera Lopez won a La Caixa scholarship — previously awarded to directors including Carlos Marques-Marcet and Clara Roquet — for an MFA in screenwriting from New York’s Brooklyn College. 

As a producer, the filmmaker won a Goya in 2023 for Leon Siminiani’s short film Emotional Architecture 1959 and has worked with several companies developing TV shows as a screenwriter. She moved into directing with short film A Midsummer Night’s Tale, which premiered last year at Valladolid International Film Festival (Seminci). It was produced by Avalon, which is now producing Since You’ve Gone.

Contact: Emilia Fort, Avalon  

• Spain special 2025: digital edition