Pedro Almodóvar: David Lean Lecture 2012

12 November 12

Listen to Key Moments From The Lecture

About Pedro Almodóvar:

Spain’s most influential director since Luis Buñuel, Pedro Almodóvar has made a name for himself on the world stage with his penchant for bright colours, labyrinthine narratives and bold splashes of melodrama.

Born in 1949 in the quiet Spanish town of Calzada de Calatrava, Almodóvar moved to Madrid in 1967 to escape the poverty of his rural upbringing. With the country’s film schools closed under the Franco regime, Almodóvar became a self-taught filmmaker, exhibiting his first shorts in alternative underground clubs around the city.

In the late Seventies, the fall of the Franco regime brought about a wave of counter-culture and hedonism in a movement known as La Movida Madrileña. Almodóvar became a figurehead of the movement, creating films that came to characterise the era. His first feature, Pepi, Luci, Bom (1980), was very much a product of the time: a campy comedy of unbridled excess, sexual liberation and amped-up melodrama.

As writer and director of his films, Almodóvar has retained complete creative control over his work, carving out a niche that is very much his own. His later films, including All About My Mother (1999), Talk To Her (2002), Volver (2006) and The Skin I Live In (2011), revolve around the same grand themes of family, identity, desire and death, treated with an artful balance of comedy and drama. Laced with love, sex and obsession, his films are notable for their strong female leads and his long-term collaborations with actors such as Carmen Maura, Victoria Abril, Penélope Cruz and Antonio Banderas.

At the time of writing, Almodóvar is working on his latest release. The film, titled I'm So Excited, stars Penélope Cruz and Antonio Banderas and is currently in post-production.

Read Cecilia Roth's piece on working with Almodóvar here >

Filmography:

Awards:

Almodóvar has won five BAFTA Awards: three for Film Not in the English Language (The Skin I Live In, Talk To Her, All About My Mother), one for Original Screenplay (Talk To Her) and the David Lean Award for Achievement in Direction.

He has been nominated for a further six: five for Film Not in the English Language (Broken Embraces, Volver, Bad Education, Live Flesh, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) and one for Original Screenplay (All About My Mother).

His recognitions also include two Oscars for Talk to Her and All About My Mother, Cannes Festival nods for Volver and All About My Mother as well as numerous Goya Awards in the director's home country.

BAFTA / Ian Derry
_{Almodóvar portrait by Ian Derry for BAFTA's Past Winners photoshoot for the 2012 Film Awards brochure}

About the David Lean Lecture:

Read the full event brochure for extra Almodóvar features >

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