Spanish directing legend Pedro Almodóvar will be honored with the Donostia Award for “extraordinary contributions to cinema” at this year’s San Sebastian Film Festival.
Almodóvar is intimately tied to San Sebastian, having premiered his sophomore feature Pepi, Luci, Bom there in 1980. He returned in 1982 with Labyrinth of Passions, his first collaboration with actor Antonio Banderas and cinematographer Ángel Luis Fernandez and the film that made him a talent to watch.
He would go on to celebrate international success with Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988), which swept Spain’s Goya Awards and secured the director his first Oscar nomination; All About My Mother (1999), which won the Academy Award for best foreign-language film; and Talk to Her (2002), which was nominated for two Oscars and won Almodóvar the best original screenplay honor.
In addition to his many collaborations with Banderas, Almodóvar is closely associated with Spanish star Penélope Cruz, who worked with him on such features as Volver (2006), Pain and Glory (2019), which also starred Banderas, and Parallel Mothers (2021).
A pioneer of LGBTIQ+ storytelling, Almodóvar is also acclaimed for his distinct visual style and candy-colored imagery. His Madrid-based production company, El Deseo, founded with his brother Agustín in 1986, has been a leading force in supporting emerging Spanish talent.
“My career began in San Sebastian in the year 1980 and since then I have returned to the festival often, with or without a film. And I have always immensely enjoyed myself,” the filmmaker said. “San Sebastian is one of the cities where the cinema is celebrated with enormous enthusiasm. More than ever, at these times, we need the complicity of the spectators, and their presence in the film theatres. It is a dream to attend a festival like this, where the cinemas are always full.”
Almodóvar will receive the Donostia Award in San Sebastian on Sept. 26 from Tilda Swinton, ahead of the screening of The Room Next Door, the director’s English-language debut, with stars Swinton and Julianne Moore. The film premieres at the Venice Film Festival next month.
