2018 Seattle International Film Festival

The 44th edition of Seattle International Film Festival presents 9 feature films from Spain, with the screening of Isabel Coixet’s “The Bookshop” on Opening Night.

The 2018 Seattle International Film Festival, the longest and most highly attended film festival in North America, runs May 17 through June 10 at venues in Seattle and surrounding cities. Through 25 days, SIFF will screen 433 films representing 90 countries. SIFF shines its spotlight on the Opening Night film and gala to celebrate Isabel Coixet’s The Bookshop on Thursday, May 17, 2018.

Spanish films at 2018 SIFF

The Bookshop

On Thursday, May 17, at 7 pm. At Marion Oliver McCaw Hall. Opening Gala Night. Buy tickets.
Directed by Isabel Coixet, Spain / United Kingdom / Germany, 2017, 110 minutes. In English.

Spanish director Isabel Coixet heads to the English coast circa 1959, where a headstrong widow (Emily Mortimer) opens a bookstore in a sleepy village and encounters both pride and prejudice from the provincial locals. Winner of Best Film, Director, and Screenplay at Spain’s Goya Awards.

The Last Suit

On Wednesday, May 3 at 7 pm. At SIFF Cinema Uptown. Buy tickets.
On Friday, May 25 at 4 pm. At SIFF Cinema Egyptian. Buy tickets.
On Sunday, June 3, at 6 pm. At Kirkland Performance Center. Buy tickets.
Directed by Pablo Solarz, Argentina / Spain / Germany /Poland, 2017, 92 minutes. In Spanish with English subtitles.

A heartfelt and charming journey begins when Abraham, a spry octogenarian tailor and Holocaust survivor played by prolific Argentine actor Miguel Ángel Solá, leaves his Buenos Aires home on a one way trip across Europe in search of the man who once saved his life.

Errementari: the Blacksmith and the Devil

On Wednesday, May 23 at 9:30 pm. At SIFF Cinema Egyptian. Buy tickets.
On Sunday, May 27 at 9:30 pm. At SIFF Cinema Egyptian. Buy tickets.
Directed by Paul Urkijo Alijo, Spain / France, 2017, 93 minutes. In Basque with English subtitles.

A gothic horror fable punctuated by moments of outrageous dark humor unfolds deep in the forest of 19th century Basque Country, where a government official and an orphaned girl find themselves at a sinister blacksmith’s workshop housing a terrible secret. Produced by Álex de la Iglesia.

Summer 1993

On Friday, May 25 at 1:30 pm. At SIFF Cinema Uptown. Buy tickets.
On Saturday, May 26 at 6:30 pm. At SIFF Cinema Egyptian. Buy tickets.
Directed by Carla Simón, Spain, 2017, 97 minutes. In Catalan with English subtitles.

When six-year-old Frida is orphaned as a result of the AIDS virus, she must adjust to life in the countryside of Catalonia with her uncle and his family. Revealing the aftermath of tragedy through a child’s eyes, Frida must rediscover the building blocks of human intimacy.

Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle

On Monday, May 28 at 6:30 pm. At AMC Pacific Place. Buy tickets.
On Tuesday, May 29 at 4:30 pm. At AMC Pacific Place. Buy tickets.
Directed by Gustavo Salmeron, Spain, 2017, 90 minutes. In Spanish with English Subtitles.

Hysterical, genuine, and relatable, this documentary is an ode to a mother’s love and care for her children as the director’s own mother, the 70-something Julieta, comes to terms with her family’s financial ruin amid Spain’s economic crisis.

Constructing Albert

On Friday, June 1 at 4:30 pm. At Kirkland Performance Center. Buy tickets.
On Sunday, June 3 at 6:30 pm. At AMC Pacific Place. Buy tickets.
Directed by Laura Collado, Spain, 2017, 82 minutes. In Spanish with English subtitles.

After the closing of Spain’s legendary elBulli, the restaurant’s unsung creative genius Albert Adrià, the younger brother of head chef Ferran, embarks on a herculean new endeavor-opening six completely unique restaurants in the heart of Barcelona to create a miracle mile of haute cuisine.

Champions

On Friday, June 1 at 9 pm. At Kirkland Performance Center. Buy tickets.
On Friday, June 8 at 6:15 pm. At SIFF Cinema Uptown. Buy tickets.
On Saturday, June 9 at 3 pm. At SIFF Cinema Uptown. Buy tickets.
Directed by Javier Fesser, Spain, 2018, 120 minutes. In Spanish with English subtitles.

A disgraced basketball coach is given the chance to coach Los Amigos, a team of players who are intellectually disabled, and soon realizes they just might have what it takes to make it to the national championships in this hilarious and heartfelt box office smash out of Spain.

Giant

On Tuesday, June 5 at 6 pm. At SIFF Cinema Uptown. Buy tickets.
On Wednesday, June 6 at 3 pm. At SIFF Cinema Uptown. Buy tickets.
Directed by Jon Garano & Aitor Arregi, Spain, 2017, 115 minutes. In Basque and Spanish with English subtitles.

Basque Country, 1843. When a young, crippled and defeated man returns home from the war, he cannot believe what he sees-his dear brother has turned into an actual giant-rendering both useless on the family farm and leaving one avenue open to them: a career in the circus.

Anchor and Hope

On Friday, June 8 at 9 pm. At SIFF Cinema Uptown. Buy tickets.
On Saturday, June 9 at 12 pm. At SIFF Cinema Uptown. Buy tickets.
Directed by Carlos Marques-Marcet, Spain / United Kingdom, 2017, 112 minutes. In Spanish and English with English subtitles.

A lesbian couple (Natalia Tena and Oona Chaplin) living in bohemian style on a riverboat along London’s picturesque Regent’s Canal find themselves on a bittersweet journey of love and its vagaries when they decide to start a family by asking an old college friend to donate his sperm.