Isabel Coixet

Born: April 9 1960
Where: Barcelona, Spain

The former advertising director gained international exposure with her drama My Life Without Me with Sarah Polley.

An early cinephile (her grandmother sold tickets at a cinema in Barcelona), Coixet was given an 8mm camera aged seven for her first Holy Communion.

"I didn't want to be an actress in the films, though," she says. "I wanted to be the one who was making these beautiful things."

After studying history at the University of Barcelona, she worked as a copywriter and pilfered film stock to make experimental shorts.

She went on to work as an advertising director, making spots for BT, Ford, BMW and Ikea.

Her first feature was 1996's Things I Never Told You which she followed with the mystery drama Those Who Love with Monica Bellucci.

My Life Without Me stars Sarah Polley as a young mother who discovers she has cancer and has a limited time to achieve her goals.