Pedro Almodóvar – director, producer, Spain
Pedro Almodóvar, born on September 25th, 1949 in Calzada de Calatrava (La Mancha), is considered one of the most innovative and successful Spanish directors. He begins his career as an underground artist of the Madrid Movida (Movida madrileña). After the end of the Franco dictatorship, numerous artists use the newly created scope to break taboos that have previously been in place and to show the lifestyles of metropolitan youth. Homosexuality plays a central role in his first films.
His films “Matador (1985)” and “Law of Desire (1987)” receive international acclaim. With the film “Women on the Verge of Nervous Breakdown (1988)” turn out to be a worldwide success. In all three films Antonio Banderas plays the male lead role. His films also regularly include Penélope Cruz, Victoria Abril, Carmen Maura and Rossy di Palma.
Further films are “Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!(1990)”, “High Heels (1991)”, “Kika (1992)”, “All About My Mother (1999)” and “Volver (2006)”. In 2017 he is jury president of the Cannes Film Festival.
In 2019, his most recent film “Pain and Glory” will be released.
