22nd Edition – Special Event
UK Premiere
Followed by a Q&A hosted by Prof. Maria Delgado with filmmaker Alberto Rodríguez, scriptwriter Rafael Cobos and producer José Manuel Lorenzo
dir. Alberto Rodríguez
with Alvaro Morte, Eduard Fernández, Manolo Solo, Raúl Arévalo, Miki Esparbé
Spain/France | 2025 | 175 min | cert. TBC
In Spanish with English subtitles
Join us from 5.30pm to enjoy a refreshing beer courtesy of Alhambra
Based on Javier Cercas’s acclaimed book of the same title, The Anatomy of a Moment recounts the dramatic events of the failed 1981 coup attempt that nearly brought an end to Spain’s young democracy.
As Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero stormed the Spanish Congress with gun in hand, only three men remained seated while everyone else ducked for cover: Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez, Communist leader Santiago Carrillo, and General Gutiérrez Mellado.
Widely acclaimed in Spain, the series traces the political tensions, personal convictions, and pivotal decisions that brought the country to the brink of a return to the military regime.
BUY JAVIER CERCAS’S
ANATOMY OF A MOMENT
In partnership with publisher Fitzcarraldo, and to mark the publication of the English translation of Javier Cercas’s book, we are delighted to offer you the opportunity to purchase a copy at a special reduced price.
The book can be collected during the Festival and on the day of our screening of Alberto Rodríguez’s mini-series adaptation, presented as part of the 22nd edition of the London Spanish Film Festival, at Ciné Lumière.
‘A brilliant reconfiguring of a key event in contemporary European history. Audacious and wholly fascinating.’
— William Boyd
‘Cercas writes that he originally tried to fictionalize the event and turn it into ‘a strange experimental version of The Three Musketeers; that’s exactly how the book turned out, and he didn’t have to fictionalize a thing.’
— New Yorker
‘A persuasive, brilliant and absorbing book that has more contemporary resonance than even he might have imagined.’
— The Economist
‘Always a nimble dancer on the edge of history and fiction, the Spanish writer returns with a closely researched but always dramatic account of the failed coup in 1981 that almost vanquished his country’s fragile post-Franco democracy.’
— Boyd Tonkin, Independent
‘Javier Cercas returns to another crucial episode in the history of his country in this dense but gripping, almost Shakespearean account of soldiers, politicians, mixed motives and the lust for power…. His subtle intelligence, narrative gifts and intellectual honesty are outstanding.’
— Anne Chisholm, Telegraph
