Date of Birth: April 9, 1960 Born in Barcelona, Spain, Isabel Coixet often visited the movie theater where her grandmother sold tickets. The little girl loved watching films, and knew that one day she wanted to make her own movies. At seven, Isabel received an 8mm camera and began creating short films. She went on to study history at the University of Barcelona, then worked as a copywriter at an advertising agency, where she lifted film outtakes to make experimental shorts on her own time. Coixet eventually started her own production company and began directing commercials for clients such as Pepsi, Kellogg’s, AT&T, Procter & Gamble, Ikea, BMW and many more. 

Her first screenplay, Morbus, was made into a film in 1983, but with her next film, Demasiado viejo para morir joven (1988), she decided to step into the director’s shoes and helm it herself. Coixet received a Goya Award nomination as Best New Director, then went on to write and direct her first English language film, Things I Never Told You (1996), starring Andrew McCarthy and Lili Taylor. This time, she received a Goya Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay and won a Silver Alexander at the Thessaloniki Film Festival. Coixet filmed another Spanish-language film, A los que aman (1998), then wrote and directed the Canadian/Spanish co-production My Life Without Me (2003), about a young mother who finds out she has less than two months to live. Starring Sarah Polley and Scott Speedman, the film won an award at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Credit: tribute.ca