Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker If you are a leading woman in a Pedro Almodóvar film you will be grieving the one that someone very close to you has You will be a single mother or mother-to-be You will have very intimate female friendships such as writing or acting or photographing products for advertisements You won’t care too much about traditional values even though your Catholic family or community does You will smoke cigarettes and pop pills when you’re stressed You might have paid a pretty penny for your breasts To be one of these female protagonists means you will have familial trauma from your mother or the history of your family going back decades and decades You might be looking for love in someone who is unattainable or losing your grip on someone you have just reconnected with for you will eventually reveal what is troubling you to the person who needs to know most You will evolve from your hardships in a way that the men in your life—if they exist at all—seem incapable of The first thing one will notice in Pedro Almodóvar’s latest film an adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s 2020 novel is that it both preserves this formula and subverts it in crucial ways colleagues at Paper Magazine at the start of their careers She’s ordered a pill on the black market she will use to euthanize herself and she’s asked Ingrid (Julianne Moore) to be present for her death All Martha wants is the right place to take the pill and the right person to be with her when she does She doesn’t want to die in a place where she’s made good memories the other women in Martha’s life are not supportive or don’t want to be implicated in the decision and so Martha tells Ingrid she is the perfect person to be in the room next door when it happens We’re not exactly sure how things will go on from here It determines how we understand these two women and the way they relate to one another for the remainder of the film a war reporter who has traveled to Bosnia and Baghdad teary novelist who has just published her latest book—about her fear of death—to great success Each woman has taken a different path in life but both are about to take a leap of faith: Martha in choosing to take her own life; Ingrid in agreeing to face the thing she fears most and to help someone she hasn’t talked to in years—someone who The Room Next Door is Almodóvar’s first full-length feature to be written in English and set somewhere outside of Spain it still smells of all his usual preoccupations: the chromatic flourishes and the climactic cancer diagnoses; the Oedipal complexes and reenactments of scenes from his previous films It is driven by female characters who inhabit interesting jobs self-medicate for their neuroses and remain unmarried and uninhibited by boring domestic quandaries it rejects many of the typical conventions of melodrama we see in Almodóvar’s early work; a turn toward a more mature kind of intimacy than the youthful tick of transgression he has been lauded as the king of camp: the David Bowie of filmmaking He is best known for films inspired by 1980s telenovela-style melodramas: a style that amounts to self-conscious cheesiness zigzagging plot lines that turn on a dime and rash revelations of secrets or betrayal a transgender woman is shocked when her former lover reveals she was the parent of an aspiring writer who has been hit by a car after a chance encounter with an old friend on the sidewalk learns that her daughter has married and had three children a teen mom named Ana learns that the woman she thought was her friend conducted a paternity test on her child behind her back and once she discovered Ana was the true biological mother Almodóvar’s movies almost always pass the Bechdel test but that does not mean his women are always good His women lie and cheat; they hide from their friends and families If a relationship between two women in an Almodóvar picture seems you can almost guarantee he is about to reveal someone is not who she says she is upon my first viewing of The Room Next Door I kept waiting for the shoe to drop; for Martha to reveal herself not as a woman simply hoping to end her life with dignity but rather a homicidal murderer or an undercover exposé writer or when a male character is introduced by way of John Turturro—a climate doomer and professor who has slept with both Martha and Ingrid in the past—a vengeful harridan coming back for the other woman For this story of female friendship to move propulsively on the fuel of reliance and conviction came as something of a welcome but nearly unbelievable surprise religious family in the La Mancha region of Spain in the late 1940s Almodóvar was raised by his mother and a gaggle of female family members As Almodóvar has suggested in a collection of his personal writing his mother Francisca Caballero was practically his whole world even if she didn’t always like or approve of his work Caballero plays small roles in Kika (1993) (1989) and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988) and Almodóvar dedicated All About My Mother (1999) to her just before her death and often have strong relationships with their mothers These portrayals are part of what have made Almodóvar such an icon in the queer community Particularly in eighties and nineties Spain trans women and exploratory sexual relationships was nearly unprecedented “I will write male and female characters,” Almodóvar told the New York Times in 2016 “but I do find at least in Spanish culture more direct … with a lot less of a sense of being fearful of making a fool of themselves.” Some critics have suggested that Almodóvar “traffics in his idea of women more than women’s actual experiences,” as Daniel Schroeder has said in All About Almodóvar the podcast he hosts with New Yorker television critic Inkoo Kang There are also parts of the Spanish director’s worlds that sometimes feel a little artificial even when he’s not working in an explicitly surrealist or fantastical mode The telenovela style of his films sometimes verges on operatic Even when the acting is profound and convincing that his characters sometimes feel unnatural in their environments After seeing The Room Next Door at the New York Film Festival an acquaintance with little exposure to his work told me the film “sounded like it was written by aliens.” While meant pejoratively it could be spotted as an Almodóvar film from a mile away: full of artifice full of theatrics and all the better for it While The Room Next Door is not an original screenplay it’s obvious why Nunez’s novel was ripe subject matter for Almodóvar In a story in which the two main characters are single Martha becomes a stand-in for the masculine tendency the female bullfighter in Almodóvar’s controversial film Talk to Her (2002) Martha inhabits a job traditionally thought of as too dangerous for a woman (Martha’s deceased baby daddy was traumatized by his service in the Vietnam War; now she’s a war reporter.) Martha is not frilly after she makes the decision to end her life—as if she needs to say it in order to make it real there are moments that make us skeptical of Martha he introduces ruffles in her character through ambiguous gestures and psycho-thriller feints There is something ominous that hangs over the plot when the two women are isolated at Martha’s rented home in the woods you start to wonder: Might Martha kill Ingrid instead of herself it turns out there was never a reason to be skeptical beyond our own conditioned expectation of betrayal Not only has she followed through on her word but she has also done Ingrid some unexpected favors offering Ingrid permission to use her story in her fiction and ultimately taking the euthanasia pill when her friend is out to lunch—to better Ingrid’s alibi for the police ended up better off by putting their faith in the other The representation of female friendship in The Room Next Door feels significant amidst those we are used to seeing elsewhere in contemporary cinema—where relationships between women typically come with competitive tendencies secrets kept from one another and the painful breakups that inevitably follow women connected so deeply with the work of Greta Gerwig I was among those whose heart panged during Lady Bird (2017) when the angsty high schooler played by Saoirse Ronan lashes out at her mother and lies about which part of Sacramento she lives in to impress her rich friend any woman who watches Frances Ha (2012) knows instinctively how Frances feels when she learns her best friend Sophie has found a new roommate or when friends of friends end up being the ones to break the news to Frances that Sophie is leaving New York to move to Japan What we see in Almodóvar’s latest film feels much more singular than these stock representations of relationships between women—tense heated and competitive; marked by a boyfriend replacing a best friend or comparing oneself to another through the sexual preference of a man Almodóvar is a far different filmmaker from Gerwig not a woman himself—but much of his work has shared a sense that women must always be at odds with one another: daughters hating their mothers as it’s much harder to produce interesting fiction about women who are genuinely making sacrifices for each other without being overly saccharine or cloying The Room Next Door highlights just how infrequently supportive friendships between women are actually found in our novels and on our streaming services It’s not that these kinds of friendships don’t exist—though I’d argue they are rare which is also why finding them in real life feels so special—but that the meagerness with which they are represented and explored can be troubling People love to say that gossip is women’s work I believe that’s because deception and insincerity is usually what keeps us paying attention one is hard-pressed to find anything quite like the benevolence of The Room Next Door which he filmed partly in his hometown in La Mancha Volver proposes a world in which men are not needed to survive Its protagonist Raimunda (Penélope Cruz) and her daughter Paula (Yohana Cobo) promise to protect one another when after nearly being raped by her father Paula slaughters him with a kitchen knife in their humble Madrid apartment Raimunda doesn’t hesitate to believe her daughter’s story I killed him,” she says to her teenager as she begins to make a plan to mop up his blood and hide the body in which he moved “beyond camp into a realm of wise still relies on some of his usual melodramatic twists returns to disclose that Paula is not only Raimunda’s daughter but also her half-sister as Raimunda’s father raped her as a young woman It builds its relational heat not through secrets kept and secrets revealed but rather through the surprising consummation of taking one’s word to heart seems to offer some clues that a capacity for earnestness has always been a part of his work in some way even if it was only bubbling below the surface In the aftermath of the post-Franco dictatorship Almodóvar’s interviewer was trying to press the young director on how much he saw himself as part of La Movida movement the countercultural faction that rose with Spanish democracy wondering why the interviewer seems to believe that just because his films feature trans people and nymphomaniac women he must be sexually perverted provocative style became so cemented in the minds of Spanish culture But we also see the part of him that is drawn to the balance of intimacy fidelity and loyalty on display in his latest film meant to invite a one-word response: “Do you believe that the dog is really a man’s best friend?” he asks Cemeteries and Galaxies is John Koethe’s thirteenth collection of poetry so it’s not surprisingly a book of valediction Plunkett and I are in a long line of those who have been struck by Frost’s occult power as if by revelation is more or less agreed upon: that sometime in the past ten years © 2025 The Point. All rights reserved. Terms & Conditions. Celebrated Spanish director slams Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants and trans rights I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Pedro Almodóvar described US president Donald Trump as the “greatest mistake of our time” while accepting the prestigious Chaplin Award in New York The celebrated Spanish director spoke on stage at Manhattan’s Lincoln Center on Monday “I doubted if it was appropriate to come to a country ruled by a narcissistic authoritarian leader who doesn’t respect human rights, and whom it seems nothing can stop on his race to change fragile world balance,” The Room Next Door director said “Trump and his friends cannot convince us that the reality we are seeing with our own eyes is the opposite of what we are living claiming that they mean the opposite of what they do.” Almodóvar’s speech, delivered on the eve of Trump completing 100 days in office, referenced the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants and transgender rights “Immigrants are not criminals, even though the United States treats them as such [Ukraine’s president] Zelensky is not a dictator the wonderful co-protagonist with Zendaya of Euphoria Even though she was assigned male while renewing her passport.” In February this year, Schafer, 26, shared in a TikTok video that her renewed passport came back with her sex marked as M for male, even though she had filled out the forms marking her gender as female. I hope that you hear what I’m going to say to you You will go down in history as the greatest mistake of our time Your naiveté is only comparable to your violence You will go down in history as one of the greatest damages to humanity since the beginning of the century You will go down in history as a catastrophe.” Almodóvar went on to express his gratitude for the award, and dedicated it to the “thousands deported in recent weeks”, Schafer, and to Harvard University for its “determination to not surrender to Trump’s war on knowledge and culture” Harvard University is suing the Trump administration for cutting $2.2bn in federal funding alleging retaliation over its refusal to punish pro-Palestinian student protests and comply with demands to end DEI programmes and favour conservative applicants Almodóvar brought up his experiences growing up in Spain under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco crediting the shift to democracy with his growth as a director “It is impossible to explain what that feeling of absolute liberty meant for a young person who wanted to make films,” he said Dua Lipa, John Turturro, John Waters, Rossy de Palma, and Mikhail Baryshnikov also attended the ceremony to present him with the award, while Martin Scorsese, Tilda Swinton, and Antonio Banderas shared pre-recorded tributes. “He has a unique vision and his own brand of irreverent humor and a vibrant sense of color that lets you know you’re in for a wild ride, driven by an expert driver,” Turturro said. “I especially love how you just completely normalised trans and gay roles or storylines, something that feels these days like quite a radical act. And yet there’s a lightness and a heart to everything you do,” said Dua Lipa. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies govt and politics"},{"score":0.64193,"label":"/law govt and politics/politics"},{"score":0.619543,"label":"/art and entertainment/movies"},{"score":0.571126,"label":"/law govt and politics/immigration"},{"score":0.568772,"label":"/society/gay life"},{"score":0.563763,"label":"/society/sex"},{"score":0.561569,"label":"/health and fitness/sexuality"},{"score":0.529005,"label":"/law Spanish director compared the US president to Franco and said he wondered whether it was appropriate to visit country while he is in power The veteran Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar has launched a broadside against the US president Speaking on stage at the Lincoln Center on Monday evening he said he had been in two minds as to whether to travel to the US to pick up his Chaplin award “I doubted if it was appropriate to come to a country ruled by a narcissistic authority who doesn’t respect human rights,” he said claiming that they mean the opposite of what they do and I hope that you hear what I’m going to say to you You will go down in history as one of the greatest damages to humanity … You will go down in history as a catastrophe.” The director, who shot scenes from his most recent release, The Room Next Door, outside the auditorium where he was speaking, compared his experiences growing up in Franco’s Spain with life under Trump in today’s US. He credited his homeland’s evolution into democracy in the late 70s and early 80s with his own flourishing as a director. “It is impossible to explain what that feeling of absolute liberty meant for a young person who wanted to make films,” Almodóvar said. Those paying tribute to the director included Dua Lipa, John Turturro, John Waters, Rossy de Palma, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Martin Scorsese, Tilda Swinton and Antonio Banderas. Waters called Almodóvar “the best film-maker in the world” while Lipa praised his ability to “just completely normalise trans and gay roles or storylines, something that feels these days like quite a radical act”. Free newsletterTake a front seat at the cinema with our weekly email filled with all the latest news and all the movie action that matters Read moreEarlier this week, Karla Sofía Gascón the Spanish actor who became the first trans star nominated for an Academy Award expressed her hesitation about returning to the US “If they want to discriminate against me because of my sexuality then it will be very difficult,” she told the Hollywood Reporter I’m looking forward to doing millions of things in the United States because I think it’s a wonderful country full of something that we have all wished for in this world The actor went on to suggest that the backlash to her offensive tweets which effectively ruled out the possibility of her winning an Oscar could be ascribed in part to anti-trans sentiment “We are in a very complicated and difficult time,” she said “in which I sincerely feel like one of the first victims of all this hate.” By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use Pedro Almodóvar slams 'lunatic' Trump The filmmaker showed his support while accepting the Chaplin Award for Film at the Lincoln Center in New York Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar took a moment in a recent acceptance speech to slam President Donald J Almodóvar accepted the Chaplin Award for Film at the Lincoln Center in New York “I admit that there have been moments when I have doubted about coming to accept [the Chaplin award],” said the director “I have doubted if it was appropriate to come to a country ruled by a narcissistic authoritarian lunatic who doesn’t respect human rights and who it seems nothing can stop on his race to change the fragile world balance." The director's latest film, Strange Way of Life, is a queer western starring Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke as gay cowboys "Hunter Schafer, the wonderful co-protagonist with Zendaya of Euphoria is a woman even though she was assigned with the [marker] M for male while renewing her passport," said Almodóvar "That cruel whim by Trump’s bureaucrats that there are only two genders does not change the nature of the human being and its sexual diversity." He went on to dedicate his win to Schafer and all the immigrants deported by the Trump administration Considering the Trump administration's recent moves to deport politically outspoken immigrants without due process and even denying entry to international visitors for their views or social media presences Almodóvar's words are brave and powerful Earlier this year, Schafer shared her experience picking up her passport and was shocked to see "M" instead of "F" for her gender the first time that's happened since her teenage years "On the first day of Trump's presidency, he signed an executive order to declare only two genders recognized by the state assigned at birth," Schafer said in an 8-minute video the Bureau of Consular Affairs has frozen passport applications requesting gender marking changes or renewals" that defer from the applicant's gender assigned at birth "It's not just talk," she said no matter how wealthy or white or pretty or whatever But resistance is always an option. "Trans people are beautiful. We are never going to stop existing. We are never going to stop being trans. A letter on a passport can't change that… and f*ck this administration." Taylor Henderson is a pop culture nerd. Lives for drama. Obsessed with Beyonce's womb. Tweets way too much. who recently became a victim of the administration’s institutional transphobia The Spanish screenwriter and director likened America to countries he does not visit like China authoritarian lunatic who doesn’t respect human rights.” Among the offenses Almodóvar pointed to a recent incident with Cuckoo star Hunter Schafer “Hunter Schafer, the wonderful co-protagonist with Zendaya of Euphoria, is a woman even though she was assigned with the [marker] “M” for male while renewing her passport,” Almodóvar noted in his speech, referring to the effects of Trump redefining gender at a federal level via executive order within his first few hours in office “That cruel whim by Trump’s bureaucrats that there are only two genders does not change the nature of the human being and its sexual diversity.” This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from Back in February, Schafer posted a PSA on social media opening up about how her gender marker had been changed on her passport when she received her renewal she had previously only had a “female” gender marker dating back to her teens “I just feel like it’s important to share that it’s not just talk or whatever is excluded,” she said at the time “You will go down in history as the greatest mistake of our time Your naivety is only comparable to your violence You will go down in history as one of the greatest dangers to humanity since the beginning of the century Read the full transcript of Almodóvar’s Chaplin Award acceptance speech below: I admit that there have been moments when I have doubted about coming to accept [this award] or North Korea I have doubted if it was appropriate to come to a country ruled by a narcissistic authoritarian lunatic who doesn’t respect human rights and who it seems nothing can stop on his race to change the fragile world balance Trump and his friends — millionaires and oligarchs — cannot convince us that the reality we are seeing with our own eyes is the opposite of what we are living however much he may twist the words claiming that they mean the opposite of what they do however the United States has treated them as such Zelinsky is not a dictator is not a dictator is a woman even though she was assigned with the [marker] “M” for male while renewing her passport That cruel whim by Trump’s bureaucrats that there are only two genders does not change the nature of the human being and each sexual diversity I hope you hear what I’m going to say to you You will go down in history as a catastrophe here I am astonished but immensely grateful and feeling myself I would like to dedicate to the thousands deported in recent weeks and to Harvard University for its determination to not surrender to Trump’s war on knowledge and culture which remain the best weapons to fight lies and misinformation Get the best of what’s queer. Sign up for Them’s weekly newsletter here. the Spanish director known for brightly colored films filled with melodramatic plot twists has unveiled his first English-language feature film The Room Next Door dives into the inevitability of death and its inextricable ties to life I don't accept death," the 75-year-old director told NPR's A Martínez Her long-lost friend Martha (Tilda Swinton) has a failed cancer treatment and asks Ingrid to accompany her during her last days in upstate New York "As Julianne said at the beginning of the movie it's unnatural that something that is alive should die," Almodóvar added which was adapted from part of Sigrid Nunez's novel What Are You Going Through (2020) The film received the top prize (Golden Lion) at the Venice Film Festival While it was snubbed for the best picture race in Spain's Goya Awards the director and his two leads all got individual nods Swinton was also nominated as best actress for the Golden Globes Almodóvar says he chose to shoot The Room Next Door in English simply because the story called for it by ingesting a euthanasia pill she purchased on the dark web But it's still banned in the United States although some jurisdictions like Washington if life doesn't offer me anything but pain then I want to be the owner of my death," Almodóvar said "And I think this is a human right that we all have." Parallel to Martha's path toward death is Ingrid's transformation in overcoming her own anxiety over the ethical and legal dilemma of helping Martha end her life In the stylish home in the woods where Martha spends her final days there are three characters — the two women and death itself apocalyptic moment how to appreciate the small things in life She learns to appreciate nature: snow falling James Joyce's short story The Dead is quoted while pink snow falls on the scenery: "His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling It's not all doom and gloom — there are moments of lightness and many of reflection Almodóvar had initially scripted a lot more dark saying Swinton was up for it but Moore "was a little less so because she was afraid that it might offend people." Almodóvar has his own ways of processing the fragility of life — by creating "Pleasure for me is a way of running away from death the mother of a writer-director (Antonio Banderas) gives specific directions about how she wants to be dressed and made up after she dies who infuses his films with parts of his own life says he had the same experience with his own mother The plot of this story may have called for it but the decision to shoot his 23rd feature film in English was not an easy one for Almodóvar who apologized for his "very bad" English in the interview and at times spoke through an interpreter He tested the waters first with two 30-minute shorts in English Strange Way of Life and The Human Voice (the latter features Swinton) Almodóvar then had planned to direct a feature with Cate Blanchett based on Lucia Berlin's collection of short stories A Manual for Cleaning Women. But the travel required for the monumental project proved too daunting for Almodóvar, who had back pain after surgery, and he pulled out has left Almodóvar "much more open to make a movie in English than before." While it would depend on the story at play "I discovered that I could understand the actors and the actors also understood me." The broadcast version of this story was produced by Barry Gordemer. The digital version was edited by Majd al-Waheidi Become an NPR sponsor The filmmaker behind “Talk to Her” and “The Room Next Door” accepted the Chaplin Award on Monday night Pedro Almodóvar was on the fence about whether he should even come to the United States to accept his Chaplin Award in light of the actions the Trump administration has taken The filmmaker behind “Talk to Her” and “The Room Next Door” used his victory as a chance to speak out against the sitting U.S president during the Lincoln Center’s Annual Gala on Monday night “I doubted if it was appropriate to come to a country ruled by a narcissistic authority who doesn’t respect human rights,” Almodóvar said during his acceptance speech can not convince us that the reality we are seeing with our own eyes is the opposite of what we are living The director and screenwriter also said that Hunter Schafer is a woman “even if her passport says she is male.” Almodóvar then dedicated his award to Schafer the “thousands of deportees in recent weeks” and Harvard University before addressing Trump directly You will go down in history as one of the greatest damages to humanity,” Almodóvar said “You will go down in history as a catastrophe.” Renamed after the beloved and iconic comedic actor and filmmaker the Chaplin Award began in 1972 and honors some of the film industry’s most notable talents Previous recipients of the award have included Jeff Bridges 2024Director Pedro Almodóvar on the set of his latest film The Room Next Door.© EL DESEO DA S.L.U./IGLESIAS MÁS.Save this storySaveSave this storySaveThey say the third time’s the charm and that’s proved to be true for Spain’s most celebrated director This year Pedro Almodóvar won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival for his latest film features masterful performances by Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton When Pedro Almodóvar asks me what I thought of his latest feature film, The Room Next Door which is that I started crying after I left the press screening The tears bring relief and they aren’t like the ones caused by pain in real life,” he says with the authority of someone who has shed both types of tears staring at his glass of tea with a saccharine tablet He looked like someone contemplating a disappointing failure I was reminded of a scene at the beginning of his 1995 film The Flower of My Secret when the weight of all the misfortunes faced by the character played by Marisa Paredes converge on one moment and neither the press liaison nor the production company employees knew how to resolve it I feared that this interview might not go so well the saccharine won’t dissolve,” he lamented in a tone that went beyond mere grumbling to an expression of undeniable defeat he appeared completely overcome by a minor inconvenience One of the best films of his career and the most moving I found myself crying on my way home after I saw it Vanity Fair: San Sebastian was the first festival to screen one of your films [Pepi Bom in 1980] and Venice was the first one outside of Spain to include a film you had made [Dark Habits Venice was also the first festival where you won an official prize [in 1988 Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown won prizes for best screenplay and best actress for Carmen Maura’s performance] Going to both festivals this year feels like it’s closing a circle Pedro Almodóvar: I’ve been to Cannes many times Venice was the first international festival that truly opened its doors to me Part of the selection committee was completely opposed to including Dark Habits I ended up in the Mezzogiorno Mezzanotte section They called me a “Mediterranean Fassbinder.” It was a formidable description to live up to the Italian release of the film was given the title L’Indiscreto Fascino del Peccato (The Indiscreet Allure of Sin) inspired by the success of Buñuel’s That Obscure Object of Desire which had been released a few years earlier The sensationalism of the titles of Italian releases is matched only by that of Spanish films Do you see a common theme running through all four works The tears bring relief and they aren’t like the ones caused by pain in real life.” It seems to me that the law should correct that Martha is a completely rational woman in full control of her senses and she wants to leave this world cleanly and directly Accompanying her at this time and to help illuminate the way is Ingrid She allows herself to make jokes at difficult moments although behind it all there is this dark tunnel It was essential to me to avoid the dramatic and the overly sentimental That’s a danger of stories like this one—sentimentality both in order to create a tougher film but also at the same time to shine a different light on the story That’s why I collaborated with these two actors who have a certain grace sitting around this table where you are now They understood very well the tone I wanted to give to the film but Bergman’s works clearly did—especially Persona and Cries and Whispers Swinton’s performance also makes me think of Max von Sydow as the knight who plays chess with death in The Seventh Seal if Mia Hansen-Løve’s Bergman Island hadn’t already been made I remember photos from when he was directing his last film I imagine the day when I will be making my last film I hope to be able to continue to work even under those conditions In Sigrid Nunez’s book What Are You Going Through she suggests that bringing new generations into a world that’s on the verge of collapse may be irresponsible Julianne Moore’s and John Turturro’s characters take opposite positions on that question Damien [John Turturro] talks about the world today where the far right and neoliberalism have joined forces contributing to the threat of climate change I focused on Ingrid’s journey in the face of death In the end she is a woman who lives with the death of her friend in a world that is also dying but where there is still the possibility of living and enjoying each moment something that she discovers through her friend That moment of understanding occurs in a shot where we see two eyes—one of Tilda’s and one of Julianne’s—which is something that is absolutely from Bergman’s Persona Do you believe that having the ability to create life is a sufficient justification to introduce more beings into a world in crisis if I was in a relationship with a woman I’d be very careful to avoid pregnancy I totally rejected the idea of bringing a new being into a world that I believed was full of injustice when I was 40 years old and I was no longer bisexual but instead homosexual and there were no longer opportunities to reproduce I became envious of my brother and his children The idea of having children crossed my mind a few times but I’d immediately reject it I didn’t lead a life where having a child made sense Since I started directing films my life has been centered on writing and making them I’ve used to search for inspiration to continue writing and filming Just as there are women whose life would be very unhappy without children there are many others who refuse to have them This huge problem that we seem to have with immigration could become but I would open the doors to all immigrants if I could I would tell them to look for a place where they’d like to live Otherwise this will soon be a country of old people But I do believe that having a child of your own can be a selfish gesture if it is merely to bring someone into the world to continue your lineage Right now I wouldn't bring any being into the world I’m already old enough to be a grandfather but I shot this film out of a passion for Tilda Swinton,” Almodóvar shared during this interview.© EL DESEO DA S.L.U./IGLESIAS MÁS.For lack of a better word I thought that this film is imbued with love Do you think that that love is our only hope where every day there are hate speeches on television and in the media broadly That is one of the problems that we are facing in European societies—in France doesn’t have the complications and problems that romantic love has romantic love can lead to a deep friendship The reality is that we live in a world that is the complete opposite of love You also introduced a story into the movie that involves the sex lives of Carmelite monks that wasn’t in the book Buñuel said the best way to adapt a book is to read it and then forget about it And that it’s better to adapt a bad book than a good one and then only remember the parts that have had the most impact on you Sigrid Nunez’s book is in a certain sense unadaptable because it’s somewhat erratic—that’s something that I like about autofiction Here I was interested in the scene when the character of the author goes to visit her friend and she makes a request I immediately took that passage and began to develop it according to my way of living and feeling it I haven’t looked at the book again since then There’s another book by Sigrid Nunez that you could have adapted which revealed what those two complex writers were hiding behind their prose the proximity of death awakens a sexual urgency Often those who are still alive after experiences like this or who come back from a place where they have seen death up close are driven to make love Tilda’s character says it turned her into a kind of sex addict And reading more than one biography of war correspondents like Maruja Torres [ed: A Spanish journalist who covered the US invasion of Panama in 1989 as well as conflicts between Israel and Hezbollah] I saw that reporters who go to war form a kind of movable So in the film they talk about how sex becomes the best shield against death Now I have less need to include sexual scenes It’s also because I did it throughout the ‘80s and part of the ‘90s let’s just say that I’ve gotten that out of my system even though I still like watching films that are sexually explicit by young directors What is your relationship like with younger generations How do you think younger people see your films What I can tell you is that when I publish a script or a book more than 50% of the people who come to a reading are 20 years old or even younger I suppose they watch my films on streaming platforms That generation is drawn to los Javis [ed: a nickname for the Spanish actors and directors Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo who made Veneno [a limited series about the life of transgender singer and personality Cristina Ortiz Rodríguez] I do have relationships with many transsexuals—young ones I know them and the actors from Las Noches de Tefía [a series set in Franco-era Spain at a concentration camp for homosexuals and dissidents] But those people are a very specific community that doesn’t reflect young people broadly so I don’t know much about TikTok or influencers I’m fascinated by the stylist responsible for Zendaya’s look, Law Roach I think his work is an incredible creative act and I’ve been told that he’s almost as much of a diva as she is a cross between All About Eve and The Devil Wears Prada There would be a character who would be the ultimate authority on fashion and then a stylist who is trying to break into the world of working with celebrities If you’re a screenwriter and you’re working on something like that You have long focused on trans people in your works What is it about the trans experience that interests you so much I find it very interesting to see the differences between today’s generation They are absolutely different in terms of how they transform their bodies and the ideals of femininity that they embody because none of the ones I know today are condemned to live on the streets They have transitioned while staying close to family and friends I don’t know the experiences of other young people as well It would be different if I put myself out there and threw parties I get the sense that’s not something that appeals to you that much But I’m still curious to know what they are like Something that is always interesting to talk about with anyone is their goals Ambition is a great leitmotif for any genre I don’t have enough time in my life to do that Almodóvar directs Julianne Moore before filming a scene from The Room Next Door which won the Golden Lion at this year’s Venice Film Festival in September.© EL DESEO DA S.L.U./IGLESIAS MÁS.In The Room Next Door you abandoned one of your personal trademarks which you were still following in Parallel Mothers there are instead strong elements drawn from oral traditions and the innate force of images There are two actors speaking and listening to each other One of the most difficult things is precisely that I would shoot the same scene with Tilda and then with Julianne because their dialogue unfolds in silence and with their eyes Their eyes reflect the messages and the words that are being spoken It is a film that believes in orality as one of the main elements of cinema though few films that are being made right now reflect that it is as important as action or special effects there are only two films in my career that I made while being in love with a female lead which I shot out of a passion for Penelope [Cruz] but I shot this one out of a passion for Tilda Swinton And my strong feelings were probably reflected in the character and the film itself I wanted the narration to be very restrained but I also had to be restrained when it came to planning scenes: I couldn’t go beyond close-ups or short medium shots of their faces and I think the love between the two of them is there In one of the three moments in the movie which looks back to a paragraph from Joyce’s story The Dead I had to go into a bathroom to cry because of the emotions it provoked Are you now more aware of your own mortality in The Room Next Door there are several references to The Dead Huston’s film adaptation of Joyce’s short story of the same name but for me it was as if Tilda’s character was snowing on Julianne’s character But the viewer doesn't have to see it that way I also thought of the myth of Danaë and Zeus appearing to her in the form of a shower of gold It didn’t feel like an unlikely reference to me since Titian’s Venuses have appeared in other films I wanted to include a montage of images of war since Tilda’s character was a war correspondent I found a tremendous one by Cristina García Rodero which appears at the end of that scene It speaks of pain as it shows several widows in Georgia García Rodero was born about 11 miles from my hometown since Tilda’s character goes to art galleries she had seen a photo of hers and bought it Although I started with the plot of the novel even though the book touches on many situations and issues that are unique to American society just as I felt very comfortable adapting five stories by Lucia Berlin for a project that was later cancelled In both cases I found myself very close to the female characters and they became part of my universe I’m not attempting an analysis of American society or even the part of American society that includes these women it is above all a film with two great female characters They are women who are like many who I met in the mid-‘80s in New York In the shot of the burning house you reproduce Andrew Wyeth’s painting Christina's World Did you intend that as a nod to the country’s culture I have a magnet of the painting on my refrigerator And when I thought about the house on fire and her going after her husband I deliberately decided to include a reference to this painting Another of the film’s themes is about the legacies passed down from parents to their children something that comes into play with your choice of the actor to play Martha’s daughter She’s one of the big names who worked on the film and when you lose weight at a certain age your face wastes away with those prominent cheekbones and not a single wrinkle we tried several makeup looks because while the character is worn out and exhausted I didn’t want her to appear shocking or ugly Regret is another theme that the film touches on How to say this… My behavior with some people has not always been exemplary In my relationships I’ve kept quiet about too many things that I should have talked about and that does make me feel a little guilty In the ‘80s they told me that I was a transgressor even when I never had the slightest intention of transgressing but I’m also free to do what I think is appropriate My life becomes about having one day less each day and not about having lived one more day I’m analyzing myself because I’ve never been in psychoanalysis and I think that part of my character consists of doing some things well and others just okay “In the ‘80s they told me that I was a transgressor even when I never had the slightest intention of transgressing.” The films I made were the ones I was capable of making in the place and time when I made them I was still learning and they are full of formal defects At that time I said—because I was a very funny guy—that when a film has one or two mistakes So I have favorite films and favorite moments from films I would say that of the 23 films I have made there are only two that I don’t like at all Sometimes I made mistakes in certain casting choices that undermined the films even if 100 people are involved in creating it is 100% mine and I identify with all of them and I treat them both as if they were my children My relationship with cinema is a passionate one which actually makes things harder because I’m getting older while the films are young I am now in this love affair with The Room Next Door which will end after we have presented it at all the festivals And the best thing to do when you have a love affair that is reaching its end is to be unfaithful and start a new one This interview was originally published by Vanity Fair Spain How Miriam Adelson Went From Big MAGA Winner to Casino Loser in Trump’s First 100 Days Trump’s Lies Are Finally Catching Up to Him The UK Has Found Another Reason to Be Mad at Meghan Markle “It’s About Him”: How Trump Is 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country ruled by a narcissistic authoritarian lunatic and who it seems nothing can stop in his race to replace the fragile world balance,” Almodóvar told the audience in Alice Tully Hall claiming they mean the opposite of what they do I’m talking to you […] You will go down in history as the greatest mistake of our time You will go down in history as one of the greatest damages to humanity in this beginning of the century Almodóvar recalled growing up in Spain under the Francisco Franco dictatorship and spoke about his mother who taught him among other things that “fiction completes reality and makes it more liveable” The filmmaker was joined by longtime collaborator Rossy de Palma who drew applause when she walked on stage to open a bottle of water for Almodóvar Monday’s statement to reporters follows Truth Social Company’s latest foray into genre will open theatrically on October 10 ‘Ish’ and ‘Learning To Breathe Under Water’ will also feature ’Thunderbolts*’ has achieved the third-biggest opening number for a US studio film in 2025 Bookmark this page to keep track of all the latest festival dates Screen International is the essential resource for the international film industry access to the Screen International archive and supplements including Stars of Tomorrow and World of Locations Site powered by Webvision Cloud Your support helps make our show possible and unlocks access to our sponsor-free feed Pedro Almodóvar attends a Special Screening of The Room Next Door at Vue West End on October 20 Pedro Almodóvar is one of the most acclaimed directors of all time And you know his films for the tight dialogue which is at times funny You may also know his films for their (at the time) groundbreaking incorporation of queer characters and themes you also probably know that pretty much all of his films have been set in his home country of Spain It's his first English language feature film in a filmmaking career that's spanned over fifty years It's a film based on a few short stories from the book Runaway by Alice Munro It's almost a suspense movie about a middle aged woman and her attempts to reconnect with her adult daughter Almodóvar talked with us about his dramatic endeavor Julieta A version of this interview originally aired in December of 2016 Thanks for visiting The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here Pedro Almodóvar has defended Hunter Schafer against Trump (Getty) Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar (The Room Next Door) has defended trans star Hunter Schafer (Euphoria) against President Donald Trump’s ‘authoritarian lunatic’ treatment of trans people in the United States Almodóvar accepted the Chaplin Award for Film at the Lincoln Center in New York (30 April), and used the last part of his acceptance speech to target the incumbent President of the United States and his administration’s treatment of trans people “I admit that there have been moments when I have doubted about coming to accept [the Chaplin award],” the director authoritarian lunatic who doesn’t respect human rights and who it seems nothing can stop on his race to change the fragile world balance.” Almodóvar, who was speaking in English (his second language), then turned his speech to address Hunger Games star Hunter Schafer’s recent experience with her passport In February this year, shortly after Trump’s inauguration, Schafer shared that her new US passport listed her gender marker as “M” for male “I was like, ‘I’ll believe it when I see it,’ and today, I saw it on my new passport. I was shocked because I didn’t think it was actually going to happen. I wanna acknowledge my privilege as a celebrity trans woman who is white and thin and can adhere to contemporary beauty standards — and it still happened,” Schafer explained in a TikTok at the time the wonderful co-protagonist with Zendaya of Euphoria is a woman even though she was assigned with the [marker] M for male while renewing her passport “That cruel whim by Trump’s bureaucrats that there are only two genders does not change the nature of the human being and its sexual diversity.” The director also dedicated his win to Schafer as well as immigrants deported by the Trump administration Trump has continued to target trans people across the United States, most recently telling trans swimmer Lia Thomas’ university to erase her records or have their funding cut Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below and remember to keep the conversation respectful About us Contact us Advertise Work for us Terms and conditions Privacy policy The Room Next Door (2024 | USA | 107 minutes | Pedro Almodóvar) The Room Next Door is the story of two women (Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton) who reconnect after a several year estrangement Martha is played by Swinton and Ingrid by Moore a mutual friend encourages Ingrid to reach out to Martha as she’s fighting an aggressive form of cancer Ingrid starts spending a lot of time with Martha who admits that her fight with cancer is not going well and has a big ask Martha has accepted that she’s not going to get better She wants to end her life instead of going through more chemotherapy with diminished returns All Ingrid would have to do is stay with her in a luxurious house Martha will take a lethal pill she bought from the dark web and will close her bedroom door when it’s time All Ingrid would need to do is keep Martha company and call the police after she does it and I’m not sure anyone has ever worn anything cooler in a movie than that yellow suit Tilda Swinton wears There’s like seven people in the world that can pull that off Julianne Moore is one of those actors whose presence can be a deciding factor in the affirmative whether or not I watch a movie I’m somewhat bearish on this might be the most Bechdel Test Passing-est movie I’ve ever seen That’s not to say that The Room Next Door is bad or without merit there are some fine attributes like the acting and the yellow suit And even one of Pedro Almodóvar’s lesser movies is still better than most other films out there The adage that applies to sex and cold pizza also applies to the filmmaking of my favorite Spanish filmmaker: even when it’s bad ________________________________________________ The Room Next Door begins playing at SIFF Cinema Uptown on Friday, January 10 © 2025 The SunBreak - All Rights Reserved Pokama Lite theme by ZThemes both Swinton and Moore deliver as best as they can yet the same cannot be said of the other actors in the movie movies are expected to do more showing than telling Yet Pedro Almodóvar’s “The Room Next Door” fails exceptionally at this task The film is the first English-language feature film for Almodóvar whose 2002 movie “Talk to Her” won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay any moviegoer would have high expectations for his latest film But the script of “The Room Next Door” is ingenuine riddled with unnecessary description and obvious throwaways Though the movie has such a grave focus — death — there is no suspense an author who has reunited with her old friend Martha (Tilda Swinton) the women reconnect and become as close as they were in their 20s But when Martha’s diagnosis becomes terminal she is determined to end her life on her own terms and enlists Ingrid to accompany her in her final days The women retreat to a modern house upstate where a bright red door marks the entrance of Martha’s bedroom But the day Ingrid wakes up to a closed door will be the day Martha has taken her life with illicit euthanasia pills.  Despite accompanying these women in intimate moments the audience does not learn anything substantive about them over-explaining and under-delivering the drama of the situation their conversations are insincere and unnatural Everything feels relatively inconsequential.  There is a useless subplot pertaining to Ingrid’s ongoing relationship with Damian (John Turturro) Ingrid and Damian meet only twice in the film Their first conversation is entirely uncompelling and their second is preachy and off-putting Damian offers overstated sermons on climate change — an undoubtedly relevant issue in the present-day but one that is thrust so surprisingly into the film that its potential impact does not land He also muses on death with dignity so frequently that it is overwhelming These scenes are the perfect example of Almodóvar’s refusal to let the movie speak for itself.  who shines in her few scenes as a younger Martha But her appearance in a brunette wig is so hard to take seriously that even her performance cannot save the scene.  brilliantly colored sets — especially the house where the women retreat — each scene boasts excellent cinematography and production design.  Though lapsing at times into hagiography and muddled synopsizing James Miller’s study of filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar is a bracing reminder of the greatness and ever-evolving genius of this world-class artist The Passion of Pedro Almodóvar: A Self-Portrait in Seven Films by James Miller Those whose only exposure to the brimming oeuvre of 75-year-old Pedro Almodóvar was his most recent film The Room Next Door (2024) — a polished anodyne effort like a second-rate Todd Haynes melodrama — would most likely receive a better introduction by reading James Miller’s insightful though at times meandering The Passion of Pedro Almodóvar: A Self-Portrait in Seven Films There you might read about the Spanish auteur’s debut feature Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls on the Heap (1980), a scatological cross between The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and the early films of John Waters and a character who enjoys being beaten by her husband After the film’s 1992 release in the US “a rough unfunny comedy notable for its bathroom jokes and abysmal home movie cinematography.” Rita Kempley noted in the Washington Post that “Pedro Almodóvar showed not a whisker of promise in his amateurish directorial debut a smutty sexual sideshow most safely viewed in a full body condom.” But by then, of course, Almodóvar had ascended to the cinematic pantheon with rollicking international hits like Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1991) and What Have I Done to Deserve This? (1984) And though panned at its release by most critics taboo-shattering filmmaker at a time when the post-Franco culture was enjoying its own belated which were made long after the actual events Pepi is distinguished by the fact that it sprang up as Almodóvar was experiencing the wildly transgressive and artistically fecund scene the movie depicts pushed id-like impulses and the desire for personal freedom to the point where their limitations and contradictions were exposed conflicts which became the obsessions of his subsequent films “I was attempting to describe the plot.… It was quicksand the play of ideas and the elegance of the form become paramount “with the advent in the 1980s of the modern home video technologies …Almodóvar knew that viewers … could easily see his films more than once.… His film plots became baroque and his story lines suggestive of the countless intractable and sometimes tragic dilemmas that surround the question of what constitutes a good life as richly suggestive in their own idiosyncratic way as the ancient narrative fictions that first gave a name to the vocation we still call ‘philosophy.’” the critic unloads lots of heavy references and comparisons as he makes his case that Almodóvar is “the first compleat art cinema auteur” and “one of the most important artists with a self-conscious interest in moral philosophy to have emerged from the global counterculture of the 1960s.” Though lapsing at times into hagiography and muddled synopsizing Miller’s study is a bracing reminder of the greatness and ever-evolving genius of this world-class artist Peter Keough writes about film and other topics and has contributed to numerous publications. He had been the film editor of the Boston Phoenix from 1989 to its demise in 2013 and has edited three books on film, most recently For Kids of All Ages: The National Society of Film Critics on Children’s Movies (Rowman & Littlefield Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" The Lady’s Dressing Room (1732) BY JONATHAN SWIFT Five hours (and who can do it less in?) By haughty Celia… but this Littlefield review has convinced me to make the purchase your comments reek of what is wrong in today's society and also if entitlement About Us Advertising/Underwriting Syndication Media Resources Editors and Contributors © 2025 The Arts Fuse. All Rights Reserved. Site by AuthorBytes. Your Ads Privacy ChoicesIMDb User login Explore the iconic film sets of the renowned director an honorary Adopted Son of Madrid and recipient of Oscars Curious spectators of Almodóvar’s films often find themselves trying to spot the various filming locations scattered across Madrid Some of these places have become iconic symbols of his cinematic world Below are some intriguing details about the hundreds of locations that shape Almodóvar’s Madrid and producer has earned numerous international accolades including two Academy Awards: Best Foreign Language Film for All About My Mother (1999) and Best Original Screenplay for Talk to Her (2002) He also won the Ariel Award for Best Ibero-American Film for Pain and Glory (2019) and the Golden Lion for Best Picture at the Venice Film Festival in 2024 for The Room Next Door he has also accumulated an impressive collection of Goya Awards In the final scene of What Have I Done to Deserve This? the camera pulls back from the towering apartment blocks where the characters reside gradually revealing a vast expanse of urban buildings These three imposing structures are situated along the M-30 motorway near the mosque in the La Concepción neighborhood Almodóvar first took notice of them years earlier: “When I worked at a Telefónica warehouse near Fuencarral hive-like buildings by the motorway always caught my attention.” Flirty glances and seductive exchanges were always part of the scene at this iconic cafeteria, now called La Bobia (No. 3 Calle del Duque de Alba) in El Rastro A legendary hotspot during Madrid's La Movida movement in the 1980s it plays a key role in Labyrinth of Passion featuring a heated encounter between the main characters portrayed by Imanol Arias and Cecilia Roth "¡Riégame! ¡No seas tímido!" (“Water me! Don’t be shy!”). Standing outside what is now the Conde Duque cultural centre (No Carmen Maura's character pleads with a street cleaner to hose her down and offer some relief from the sweltering summer heat in Law of Desire This moment has since become one of the director's most iconic scenes Almodóvar filmed the finale of Live Flesh on Calle del Arenal taking advantage of the festive Christmas decorations One of the shots features the iconic Museo del Jamón The director discreetly filmed the scene from inside a van while the street bustled with pedestrians and extras hired for the shoot Almodóvar noticed something unexpected: in every take "I suppose he was waiting for someone who never showed up," Almodóvar later remarked Almodóvar’s cinematic journey through Madrid offers a vastly different experience from the typical tourist bus route. However, there are a few notable exceptions: The Flower of My Secret features Plaza Mayor, and the night skyline over the Puerta de Alcalá bridge provides a stunning backdrop for the opening credits of Live Flesh makes another appearance in Broken Embraces where it can be seen from the office of the tycoon played by José Luis Gómez La Almudena Cemetery and Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport are among the most frequently featured locations in Almodóvar's films Always attuned to the city's new developments the director filmed scenes at the new high-speed AVE train station in Atocha in Kika capturing Peter Coyote’s arrival on a luxury train Cecilia Roth travels between Madrid and Barcelona by AVE despite the fact that the high-speed train had not yet reached the Catalan capital at that time A pivotal scene in Broken Embraces was filmed at the iconic Museo Chicote cocktail bar (No. 12 Gran Vía avenue), a favourite among both Spanish and international celebrities. If the walls of Museo Chicote could speak they would recount tales of Ava Gardner seducing the famous bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguín The headquarters of the Spanish Cultural Heritage Institute (No 4 Calle Pintor El Greco - Ciudad Universitaria) serves as the setting for a conference delivered by the vengeful character portrayed by Antonio Banderas in The Skin I Live In Architect Richard Rogers described the building as "creative and energetic in every way down to every last detail." Designed by architects Fernando Higueras and Antonio Miró in an organic style Almodóvar chose this location to enhance the film's expressiveness and depth Though it didn’t open until 1949, the city's viaduct is a prime example of Madrid’s 1930s Rationalist style. Connecting the Royal Palace to the Vistillas area most Madrid residents invariably associate it with suicide This haunting connection to death is explored in Matador a film about passion pushed to the extreme and even more prominently another of Almodóvar’s works Paz Vega's character finds herself involved in a suicide attempt at this very location The headquarters of the Spanish Film Library (No 13 Calle de Santa Isabel) makes an appearance in two of Almodóvar's films in which Benigno (played by Javier Cámara) goes to see the short film El Amante Menguante Antonio Banderas—who serves as Almodóvar's alter ego—pays homage to the cinema leading to a memorable and hilarious scene Paseo del Pintor Rosales. This is where Salvador Mayo, the character played by Antonio Banderas, lives, sharing many traits with the director himself. It’s a charming street located directly across from Oeste Park, with Casa de Campo Park visible in the background Pedro Almodóvar left Calzada de Calatrava in Castile-La Mancha to come to the capital Convinced that his village represented a prison for his artistic impulses he betrayed his family’s wish for him to work in a bank as a respectable citizen packed his bags in search of a brighter future He arrived in Madrid via the Extremadura motorway In an autobiographical article published in Diario 16 in 1993 he described his first encounter with the city as somewhat disappointing: “It was nothing like how I had imagined; the landscape was colourless all his dreams were deeply connected to Madrid residing in some misty corner of his imagination Almodóvar recalled his mother’s stories of travelling to Madrid in the 1920s he imagined life in Madrid would resemble the glamorous world depicted in the Empress Sissi films Madrid became a place for catalogue shopping epitomised by the Galerías Preciados building with their black-and-white photographs of all kinds of beauty and household products It was my first encounter with pop culture and I will never forget it.” His perception of that legendary city continued to develop to him Madrid was a symbol of freedom “It represented the place where films premiered before anywhere else as well as the place where people built their lives it bore absolutely no resemblance to the gardens of Empress Sissi he would recount how he had to adjust to the smell of the underground and the fact that you couldn't see the stars at nighttime “Those were the first impressions I can remember—not exactly fascinating His evolution as a person and an artist is closely intertwined with the capital The city itself plays a very significant role in his movies with the filmmaker skilfully portraying the transformation that Madrid has undergone in recent decades and Madrid is lucky enough to have Almodóvar. This bond has formed without any perceptible effort from either the city or the director Almodóvar has never paid tribute to the city or publicly declared his love for the capital Their connection has emerged much more naturally as each recognised they were leading parallel lives Having become one of Almodóvar's main characters Madrid is essential to the understanding of his films The director himself has even said so in the past: "This city has always provided me with the perfect landscape and the ideal sassy characters for each and every one of my films." In Broken Embraces the director uses the two key settings of Lanzarote and Madrid to complement the plotline He pays a subtle tribute to the capital with the movie poster of Girls and Suitcases—a film within the film—which depicts a blonde Penélope Cruz standing among tall Almodóvar and Madrid have grown up together, evolving from provincial children to international all the while never losing their rural roots the filmmaker has found the ideal stage for his paradoxical worldview: a place where the most avant-garde design coexists happily with a tacky dressing gown fans of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown regarded the idea of Carmen Maura breeding hens on her attic terrace as a stroke of genius Ultimately, these contradictions define the city It was simply a question of knowing where to look and looking without fear he has acknowledged the places where his characters live their lives The attic with the hens is located in Calle de Montalbán while the serial killer featured in the same film is called the serial killer of Cuatro Caminos and the weary star of What Have I Done to Deserve This? who lives her life in Barrio de la Concepción... Oddly enough even with the abundance of local references his films became worldwide box office hits: “There are certain local features in my films which are easy to understand elsewhere Life in big cities is similar everywhere; the discomfort is mutual they're becoming increasingly connected”.  If you're eager to study the evolution of Madrid over the last 25 years well then you'll want to also study Almodóvar's films Rustic meets urban with the three stars of Pepi Bom and Other Girls Like Mom: one minute we're at a modern nightclub and the next we're knitting on the sofa. The movie Labyrinth of Passion presents the vibrant evoking the spirit of the capital during the La Movida movement In the words of one of its more outrageous characters Madrid is “the most exciting city in the world” Why not start at the convent from Dark Habits (1983) (1984), the director used barren land and lizards to portray the outskirts of Madrid In a night scene in The Law of Desire (1986) Carmen Maura asks a street cleaner to hose her down “I believe that that image is the best representation of what we call desire” It's also the most effective depiction of the suffocating Madrid summer nights ever captured on the big screen Almodóvar’s relationship with Madrid reached new depth with the city becoming a central presence shaping the characters’ lives he captures key issues facing the capital: one message reads, “Hermana I believe you”), in support of the survivor of the La Manada rape case in Pamplona in 2016; another protests the touristification of Lavapiés every scene and corner of Madrid that appears in Almodóvar's films has a purpose Sometimes symbolic and at other times autobiographical—why not He chose Gran Vía avenue as the backdrop for Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1987) “It’s one of my favourite landscapes.” A student of Madrid’s evolution will also notice the changes in the human geography of the capital Before becoming the gay neighbourhood of Madrid Chueca was once home to substance users and low lifes as evidenced by the night scenes featuring Antonio Banderas in Tie Me Up Almodóvar became a sort of ambassador for Madrid although it became progressively harder for him to keep his finger on the pulse of the city “I’ve always enjoyed the company of others; I’ve always liked meeting new faces and observing—that's where I draw my inspiration it’s becoming increasingly difficult to connect with reality.” Perhaps this is why High Heels (1991) and Kika (1993) were both shot indoors? It wasn't long before the filmmaker was back on the streets to shoot The Flower of My Secret (1995) and explore some of the city’s more emblematic locations. The writer played by Marisa Paredes lives and works in Plaza de la Paja, and in one of the flick’s most charming scenes, Juan Echanove tap dances in Plaza Mayor at night Twenty-five years had passed since Almodóvar arrived in the city Many of those experiences occurred at the same rate as the city itself,” Almodóvar wrote in 1998 when he chose to look back on his life and career for the first time and reflect on the many changes The story of Live Flesh (1997) begins with the birth of a baby during Christmas 1970 at a time when the country was under a state of emergency terrified,” the main character says to his son the people of Spain lost that fear a long time ago.” Notably Almodóvar found one of his most dramatic filming locations: La Ventilla a shanty town of crumbling shacks on the brink of demolition to make way for the modern we see Madrid and Almodóvar filled with striking contrasts and contradictions he had directed twelve feature films—twelve unique portrayals of a single city When he announced that he would shoot All About My Mother (1999) in Barcelona the filmmaker confessed to feeling a pang of guilt “I feel I have betrayed Madrid,” he admitted The result was a landmark film set in Barcelona he returned to old Madrid in Talk to Her (2002) he revisited the street corners (“I have a thing for corners”) capturing once again the essence of his city he has received all sorts of tempting offers—proposals to make a film in the United States, to shoot in English Yet the director has no intention of leaving Madrid behind he might experience what Marisa Paredes does on returning to the capital in High Heels: We invite you to discover Madrid through the eyes of Spain's most revered film director Madrid offers the country's biggest selection of cinemas showing films in their original language Discover the city's most popular sights and attractions from one of Europe's largest royal palaces to the magnificent Prado Museum and the Real Madrid football stadium.  Download free maps and guides to the city to help you plan your trip The city’s new official sightseeing and tourist travel pass Our online store (in Spanish) sells artisan souvenirs Madrid's excellent transport system allows you to get around the city quickly and safely by bus Thanks for visiting the writer-director has gone through several cinematic phases; from shock artist to stylish farce specialist to award-winning dramatist Almodóvar honed his filmmaking skills during a cultural renaissance in Spain following the death of dictator Francisco Franco His unmistakable visual style — which includes the employment of striking production design primary colors — has remained intact since his earliest works With a diverse filmography that spans melodramas, dark comedies, and thrillers, the auteur's work is perhaps best known for his portrayals of complex women. (He has directed Penélope Cruz to multiple Oscar nominations.) He also consistently explores the themes of identity and desire while showing an uncanny ability to find quirky humor in his collection of oddball characters His latest film is Strange Way of Life, a 31-minute Western starring Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke A.frame is taking a look back at some of the Almodóvar's most defining films All of his films are brimming with creativity and worthy of at least one viewing but here are 10 essential films showcasing his boundless versatility and knack for capturing the more colorful corners of the human condition Icon_Audio-Video_-PlayCreated with Sketch.Where to watchThe film that really put Almodóvar on the international map in a major way this freewheeling farce is a great showcase for one of his most famous stars who had just played a tough-as-nails transgender woman in his comedic thriller Icon_Audio-Video_-PlayCreated with Sketch.Where to watchAlmodóvar's next film was also an Oscar winner this time winning him the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay He also received an Oscar nomination for Best Director Incorporating elements from modern dance to surrealism the film hinges on the unusual rapport that forms between reporter Marco (Dario Grandinetti) and nurse Benigno (Javier Cámara) while they both care for comatose women (Rosario Flores and Leonor Watling) at the same hospital Icon_Audio-Video_-PlayCreated with Sketch.Where to watchCruz takes center stage in another of the director's odes to motherhood in all its many forms here with a story originally introduced as a narrative vignette in Almodóvar's earlier The Flower of My Secret (1995) Raimunda (Cruz) takes drastic measures to cover up for a self-defense slaying committed by her daughter courtesy of a handy freezer Her close-knit matriarchal family proves to be a source of strength but has a strange secret in store involving Raimunda's mother (Maura in a welcome return to the Almodóvar repertory company) who was presumed dead years before in a fire who received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in Volver The Official Guide to Portland The following description was submitted by the event organizer Join Tomorrow Theater for a Double Exposure of Pedro Almodóvar Featuring Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and Volver both screenings will have special limited-edition bumper sticker giveaways celebrating the filmmaker Tickets sold separately for each screening Raimunda (Penélope Cruz) works and lives in Madrid with her husband Paco and daughter Paula Her sister Sole (Lola Dueñas) lives nearby who died several years ago in a house fire along with their father A former neighbor from their hometown reports that she has seen the ghost of Irene Irene’s spirit materializes around her daughters to help comfort them visitorinfo@travelportland.com1-888-503-3291 (toll free)503-427-1372Monday–Sunday 1132 SW Harvey Milk St #104,Portland, OR 97205 Get the guide Local BusinessesMediaMeeting PlannersTravel Industry ProfessionalsEvent Organizers We are a promoter and steward of this evolving city and its progressive values which have the power to transform the travelers who visit us Things you buy through our links may earn Vox Media a commission This article originally ran on September 7 We are recirculating it timed to The Room Next Door’s release in theaters Tilda Swinton convalesces in the most beautiful hospital room in the world in The Room Next Door. Her character, Martha, may be dealing with inoperable cervical cancer, but she’s also a character in a Pedro Almodóvar film and so what should be an impersonal medical space is instead lined with tasteful autumnal wallpaper and overlooking a Manhattan cityscape on which playing an author named Ingrid in an iconic burgundy lip I had to stifle a gasp of appreciation at all the colors involved in the tableau of their greeting embrace Swinton reclines in bed in a bright red jacket and bold blue pants while Moore comes in wearing a burgundy coat and carrying a navy intrecciato bag It’s like the two have had their energies reversed in some way the dying Martha dressed more vividly than the muted wardrobe on her vibrant friend The Room Next Door is an alternately rapturous and ponderous meditation on mortality that exploration comes by way of a fantasy of set directing one’s own death his 2019 drama about an older Spanish filmmaker whose many physical ailments have left him unable to work and feeling without a reason for being because of it the chemotherapy having stripped her of her ability to focus and the explorations of what it’s like to inhabit a failing body are experienced secondhand who just wrote a book about her fear of death but who finds herself in close quarters with it after reconnecting with Martha then being asked to accompany the sick woman to a getaway in the Catskills where she plans to end her life on her own terms After the semi-autobiographical intimacy of Pain and Glory this mediated contemplation of death from the perspective of what the dying have to teach the still-thriving living does feel like a retreat it’s nowhere as inspirational-poster as that description might imply even if Martha’s actual acceptance of what’s happening is the least moving part of a film that manages to also have moments of beguiling strangeness It’s almost as if Almodóvar can’t actually bear to consider the finality that is his film’s ostensible theme the past erupts onto the screen with even more sensory intensity than the present in Martha’s recollections of an encounter with a Carmelite friar in war-torn Baghdad who was once the lover of a colleague or her recounting the death of her child’s father Ingrid has a session with a trainer in a gym near Woodstock and when she tells him about her dying friend he solemnly informs her that he would give her a hug only they’re no longer allowed to touch clients due to the threat of lawsuits She also has an encounter with Damian (John Turturro) who at different times dated her and Martha — a fellow writer who’s made a name for himself as a climate pessimist his doomerism presented in contrast to the peace Martha has made with the time she has left But most of the film is spent in the company of the two women — in that hospital room and in their ridiculously nice respective apartments in an airy modernist rental home in the woods where Ingrid and Martha will essentially vacation together until Ingrid decides she’s ready to go The sequences of these two old pals trying to recapture the closeness of their hellraising youth are tender and lovely in ways that go beyond the lushness of their ultimate location Touches of wryness and impatience save Swinton’s performance from being too reliant on radiant serenity while Moore lets Martha’s discomfort show in her overbright responses that sometimes come before her friend has finished speaking the halves of their faces on adjoining pillows imperfectly merging to form a Picasso-esque whole that sums up their closeness and their differences But the oddest aspect of The Room Next Door may be that it doesn’t conclude where you’d expect instead offering a few more twists before trailing off into credits though it’s also reassuring in its own way — an indication that Almodóvar can’t help but keep going Password must be at least 8 characters and contain: you’ll receive occasional updates and offers from New York Norman J. Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Government and International Affairs Read More Read More Read More Read More Read More Read More Read More Read More Read More Read More Marietta Campus1100 South Marietta PkwyMarietta Campus Maps kennesaw.edu/info Media Resources All rights reserved Support forthis publication has been provided through the National Endowment for the Arts Moving Image Source was developed with generous and visionary support from the Hazen Polsky Foundation Academy Award–winning director Pedro Almodóvar dedicating a film award to the people Trump has deported in recent weeks as well as to Harvard University and a transgender movie star hit the nail on the head when he said that Trump will “go down in history as a catastrophe.” https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/5273262-pedro-almodovar-trump-deported-migrants-harvard-hunter-schafer/ https://www.yahoo.com/news/pedro-almod-var-deems-trump-165349024.html He also called Trump the “greatest mistake of our time” and that You will go down in history as one of the greatest dangers to humanity in this beginning of the century The Spanish director, who over his long career has made many widely acclaimed films, such as Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988), Talk to Her (2002), and Bad Education (2004) made these remarks as he received the Chaplin Award for career achievement at the Lincoln Center in NYC Almodóvar stated that he wished to dedicate his award to “the thousands deported in recent weeks and to Harvard University” for the school’s “determination to not surrender to Trump’s war on knowledge and culture which remain the best weapons to fight lies and misinformation.” and particularly their historical perspective Some day Trump will no longer be in office (retired or dead) and once the world has cleaned up the aftermath of his brutally inhumane and catastrophically chaotic presidency scholars will need to review and classify his administration in the context of US presidential history Trump will not do well in this coming review He is a bloodthirsty halfwit who misuses the grievances of those left behind by social and technological developments (such as the decline of rust belt industries and the GOP-led destruction of unions) as a means of acting out his childish fantasies of revenge—and be acclaimed for it by cheering crowds of supporters Those cheering crowds are the “friends” he never had while growing up Trump has shown in her recent book Who Could Ever Love You as a teenager Donald had not a single friend—due to the fact that he was unremittingly rude and obnoxious to everyone around him From classmates and teachers to neighborhood kids and family members no one was spared his mockery and contempt Growing up without friends can severely impact a person’s mental health creating a deep sense of loss that they attempt to compensate in other ways giving the world the middle finger while basking in the adulation of those cheering crowds he ostensibly loves (but actually disdains) But as Pedro Almodóvar has reminded us: some day this will be over And the judgment that history will pronounce on Trump will not be flattering Not signed up for Daily Kos yet? Create a free account Speaking over Zoom from Madrid, the stylish filmmaker is blasé about the memory of this spectral presence. “It was not creepy,” Almodóvar says matter-of-factly. “It was completely natural.” He understands such pain, both existential and physical. In recent years, Almodóvar has battled chronic back issues, which spurred his 2019 Oscar-nominated, semiautobiographical feature “Pain and Glory,” about an older director (longtime collaborator Antonio Banderas) fighting myriad ailments. Cast against type, Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton excel as old colleagues who get back in touch after a cancer diagnosis spurs them to take a morbid getaway. The right to die is controversial in America — euthanasia is legal in only 10 states, and Washington, D.C. — but euthanasia and assisted suicide are permitted in Spain. Almodóvar’s film is emphatic about the beauty of existence, but he argues that the freedom to end one’s life is a human right. “I believe very strongly that a human being should be the owner of their own life,” he says, “just like they should be the owner of their own death — and, really, the owner of death only when all that life is giving you is unbearable pain.” In one of his film’s most moving segments, Martha and Ingrid spend an evening watching “The Dead,” celebrated director John Huston’s swan song, based on James Joyce’s haunting story about the impermanence of everything. That film has great meaning for Almodóvar. “I love the movie,” he says. “It is one of the only examples where, someone so big like John Huston, the last movie was one of his best. Usually the last movie, they are not the best — but in this case, it’s completely exceptional.” As Almodóvar talks about “The Dead,” however, it becomes apparent that his appreciation goes beyond the filmmaking. Huston died in August 1987 at the age of 81. “The Dead” was released four months later. Books Pedro Almodóvar’s first book consists of a mix of short stories and personal essays that amount to ‘a fragmentary autobiography.’ California Awards Movies Subscribe for unlimited accessSite Map Pardon our dust while we build a better museum! We are open with a series of special exhibitions. During construction, select permanent collection galleries in the Main Building will reopen on a rolling basis See full details at tomorrowtheater.org The Portland Art Museum recognizes and honors the Indigenous peoples of this region on whose ancestral lands the museum now stands Multnomah and Watlala Chinook Peoples and the Tualatin Kalapuya who today are part of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and many other Native communities who made their homes along the Columbia River We also want to recognize that Portland today is a community of many diverse Native peoples who continue to live and work here We respectfully acknowledge and honor all Indigenous communities—past future—and are grateful for their ongoing and vibrant presence The Portland Art Museum and Center for an Untold Tomorrow are pleased to offer accommodations to ensure that our programs are accessible and inclusive We’ll do our best to accommodate your needs when you arrive — please give us 2-3 weeks advance notice for specific requests Email requests to access@pam.org, or call 503-226-2811. MENUDIRECTOR'S CHAIRPedro Almodóvar on The Room Next Door: “I Wanted a Light Movie About Mortality”The acclaimed Spanish filmmaker discusses working with Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore and his next film (which he’s already written) Courtesy of Sony Pictures ClassicsWarning: spoilers ahead for The Room Next Door For fans of Pedro Almodóvar—the director best known for vibrant, colorful films with melodramatic characters and wild plot lines—his latest, the Venice-winning The Room Next Door the Spanish filmmaker’s first full-length English-language feature is a relatively muted affair centered on a dark theme: death the 75-year-old’s new film is as Almodóvarean ever Loosely based on What Are You Going Through The Room Next Door stars Tilda Swinton (in a Golden Globe-nominated performance) as a successful war correspondent living alone in New York City When Martha learns that she has a terminal form of cancer she turns to an old Paper magazine colleague to help her die on her own terms: peacefully Although Ingrid wrestles with the ethical (and legal) implications of helping Martha end her life she eventually agrees—and is transformed in the process Tilda Swinton as Martha and Julianne Moore as Ingrid in The Room Next Door The Room Next Door is also about motherhood her daughter visits Ingrid in the film’s final scene suggesting a form of generational reincarnation the story is part of a clear throughline through his body of work which has always prioritized women’s stories the director shares his thoughts on color theory and the deeper meaning behind The Room Next Door’s ending: did you want to make your first English feature It was simply because the story called for it. Sigrid’s novel really hooked me, and the characters are American, so they should be speaking English. Before this, we were preparing a production with Cate Blanchett, but she was busy making a series with Alfonso Cuarón I’ve already written the script for the movie after this Did you write The Room Next Door with Tilda and Julianne in mind I wanted someone completely different for Ingrid You made the short films The Human Voice and Strange Way of Life in English but some English-speaking audiences will be hearing your writing clearly here for the first time I know that my way of writing dialogues is not exactly realistic People don’t speak Spanish the way they do in my movies I didn’t want to change my identity as a writer You worked with Oscar-nominated costume designer Bina Daigeler for this film the movie is still filled with your signature bright colors I didn’t want the film to be overly sentimental or cheesy but I discovered that I really couldn’t change my color palette which is so important in my films—there’s a red lamp The colors are there to represent Tilda’s past They represent that aspect of her life and her vitality She wants to be the owner of her life and her death It’s something that I’m very concerned about I’d like to keep on making movies the rest of my life I was educated under a very strict Catholic education It’s not something that you can create by yourself I don’t have a very clear vision of the afterlife That doesn’t mean I’m not a spiritual person and that I don’t experience spirituality through my relationships and my life But it does give me a very clear sense of finality I photographed them as if they were ghosts moving through that space Iglesias Más. © El Deseo. Courtesy of Sony Pictures ClassicsINFO1/2You released a collection of essays this fall, The Last Dream and the titular story is about your mother’s death “My mother took her leave of this world exactly as she would have wished.” Were you thinking about her when you made this movie One of the things the death of my mother taught me is that when people leave She’s inherited that fortitude from Martha Ingrid can share those stories with Michelle It’s almost like another movie starts at the end of this one The next film that I’m shooting also revolves around the female universe It revolves around self-fiction and the fine line between writing your own story versus writing stories that don’t belong to you that reveal too much about people around you You mentioned wanting to work with Zendaya The Room Next Door plays in select US theaters starting December 20 Although his illustrious career has been ongoing for decades this year marks quite a major milestone for Pedro Almodóvar He premiered his very first English-language feature The Room Next Door at Venice Film Festival where he was feted with his first top festival prize: the Golden Lion While much of the next few months will be dedicated to the awards season the Spanish auteur is already planning a shoot early next year for his follow-up added that it will be “something small,” perhaps in relation to his latest film “Mortality does not exist during my time working,” he says “I’m not exaggerating when I say that my relationship with cinema is almost vampiristic Digging deeper, Bitter Christmas is also the title of a short story from the director-writer’s recent short story collection “The Last Dream.” As 4Columns notes Bitter Christmas is “a caper that follows an adman’s quest for anti-anxiety meds culminating in an elegiac ‘thesis’ on the Mexican chanteuse Chavela Vargas Almodóvar’s real-life muse,” and recalls the “occasional manic stamina of Almodóvar’s early films While it’s not confirmed it’s the same story he’s adapting to the big screen it would be quite a coincidence if there wasn’t a connection Considering how quickly the director also turns around his projects after completing production we wouldn’t be surprised to see this one pop up on the 2025 fall festival circuit Rory O’Connor said in his review of The Room Next Door “Speaking as someone who strayed from the Almodóvar flock some films ago, The Room Next Door presents a welcome surprise His recent output of shorts and medium-length films (Strange Way of Life and The Human Voice) pointed towards a director paring down in all the wrong ways. The Room Next Door is the other kind the closest he’s come to an exercise in late style: it’s succinct and––in spite of some indulgent conversations on art and writing––never feels like it’s trying too hard Would an artist who felt they still had something to prove write a scene like the one in which Martha stares out the window of her hospital room quoting Joyce while pink snowflakes gently fall over the Manhattan skyline That the sequence works is as much a testament to the strength of the performances (watch out for Moore’s close-up in the scene a real classic of the genre) as it is to the director’s conviction.” Ahead of The Room Next Door opening December 20 watch the director and cast discuss the project below Jordan Raup is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Film Stage and a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic. Track his obsessive film-watching on Letterboxd Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar talks to Christiane Amanpour about his first feature film in English "The Room Next Door" which follows two old friends grappling with death '+n.escapeExpression("function"==typeof(o=null!=(o=r(e,"eyebrowText")||(null!=l?r(l,"eyebrowText"):l))?o:n.hooks.helperMissing)?o.call(null!=l?l:n.nullContext||{},{name:"eyebrowText",hash:{},data:t,loc:{start:{line:28,column:63},end:{line:28,column:78}}}):o)+" \n '+(null!=(o=c(e,"if").call(r,null!=l?c(l,"cta2PreText"):l,{name:"if",hash:{},fn:n.program(32,t,0),inverse:n.noop,data:t,loc:{start:{line:63,column:20},end:{line:63,column:61}}}))?o:"")+"\n"+(null!=(o=(c(e,"ifAll")||l&&c(l,"ifAll")||n.hooks.helperMissing).call(r,null!=l?c(l,"cta2Text"):l,null!=l?c(l,"cta2Link"):l,{name:"ifAll",hash:{},fn:n.program(34,t,0),inverse:n.noop,data:t,loc:{start:{line:64,column:20},end:{line:70,column:30}}}))?o:"")+" "The Room Next Door," focuses on a woman's decision to choose when she dies after failed cancer treatment It's the Spanish director's first English language feature decides to spend her last days in upstate New York with her friend Ingrid And he spoke at times through an interpreter and told me why he wanted to create this meditation on death.PEDRO ALMODÓVAR: When I was younger I didn't think so much about death because Like Julianne said at the beginning of the movie antinatural that something that is alive should die I can improve with that topic.(SOUNDBITE OF FILM "THE ROOM NEXT DOOR")TILDA SWINTON: (As Martha) Ingrid do you think I need to say goodbye to my closest friend?JULIANNE MOORE: (As Ingrid) I think you should do whatever you want to do.MARTÍNEZ: You mentioned Julianne Moore that it must at some point end?ALMODÓVAR: I mean I could accept death if you can decide in a good condition but there is one day that I'm not going to live again (speaking Spanish).MARTÍNEZ: The glass half empty or the glass half full "THE ROOM NEXT DOOR")SWINTON: (As Martha) The snow was falling falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling on all the living and the dead.MARTÍNEZ: Would you like to be like Martha Hunt in the movie Would you like to have control over how and when you die Is that the only way that you would be able to accept death?ALMODÓVAR: Oh then absolutely I want to decide about my death then I want to be the owner of my death.(SOUNDBITE OF FILM "THE ROOM NEXT DOOR")SWINTON: (As Martha) I will not go out in mortifying anguish.MOORE: (As Ingrid) I don't know what to say.SWINTON: (As Martha) I'm hoping you'll say yes.MOORE: (As Ingrid) Yes to what?MARTÍNEZ: In the film as I was watching it and I was watching Martha go through that process it didn't seem as if she truly appreciated the power her privilege to be able to control how and when she dies It just seemed to me like she was torturing her friend Ingrid going through this process with her.ALMODÓVAR: (Through interpreter) In Spain we have a very large culture around black humor and black humor is very much used to laugh at death who is a much more powerful character than Ingrid she really allows herself to laugh at that situation there were moments where I was really proposing even a lot more humor for the film and for the characters and Julianne was a little less so because she was afraid that it might offend people.MARTÍNEZ: You've been making films a very What made you decide that this was the right time to shoot a feature in English?ALMODÓVAR: So I did two shorts before "Strange Way Of Life" and "The Human Voice," with Tilda Swinton so that was the reason to do the movie and in English.MARTÍNEZ: Can we expect more films in English from you?ALMODÓVAR: Oh I feel much open to make a movie in English than before But I discovered that I could understand the actors so that's the main thing.MARTÍNEZ: That's director Pedro Almodóvar His new film is "The Room Next Door." He spoke at times through his interpreter Carla Marcantonio Copyright © 2024 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information Priscilla Almodovar is one of USA TODAY’s Women of the Year, a recognition of women who have made a significant impact in their communities and across the country. Meet this year's honorees at womenoftheyear.usatoday.com A 4-year-old Priscilla Almodovar sat in the back of her mother's college classes probably her parents," Almodovar tells USA TODAY from the Fannie Mae office in Washington "Women just get involved and our wake is so much broader than just what we do day to day single women are driving household formation as well." 'Everyone wants a safe place to live'Fannie Mae provides mortgage financing across the U.S.; the financial entity purchases 1 in 4 U.S. mortgages. It creates liquidity, stability and affordability so that banks can make more mortgages and we bring the two together to make the housing system more fair more sound because of what we do," she says All that may read dry on paper. But a home is the most personal (and cost-prohibitive) purchase a person can make Almodovar's mother and father came to New York from Puerto Rico She remembers the fourth-floor walk-up they rented before saving to buy their first home in Sunset Park The purchase proved a big stretch for them; they had a renter on the second floor But it also was that classic American dream story is what paid for me and my siblings to go to college," she says and her parents bought about five blocks from where they rented They lived there for many years before moving out to the suburbs of Long Island Her upbringing has informed her outlook on housing: "I've learned that renter They want community; they want a neighborhood; and they want the best for their family." Where you live – from what type of home to what neighborhood you grew up in – is foundational to life's outcomes, Almodovar adds. She has a bachelor's degree from Hofstra University and a law degree from Columbia University and carved out a career at the intersection of Main Street and Wall Street You could actually see it and feel it and walk the neighborhoods and then people live in that home." In case you missed: The housing crisis threatens the American dream. What's next? But people are still in search of that taste of the American dream but it's one of the ways we build generational wealth in this country," she says is trying to address homeownership obstacles by working with landlords to set aside units affordable to working families in addition to making mortgage credit more accessible But on the micro level, "when you're the president and CEO of a $4.3 trillion financial institution, the kinds of decisions that come across my desk are different every day." Questions never end: About cybersecurity It makes coming to work that much more fun." Something to add to that list: A new presidential administration "I'm in the housing party," Almodovar says More details: The US is short millions of housing units. Mass deportations could make it worse. She feels most like herself when she's with her husband And she'll snag any time her kids want to spend with her She still remembers the first ribbon-cutting she went to for a home purchase But "then someone actually had a home like that's pretty powerful." She adds: "It's just as complex as any other financial transaction but ultimately I'm impacting a person and their home." That 4-year-old in the back of her mother's college classes is no longer watching and waiting Thanks for visiting See full details at tomorrowtheater.org Email requests to access@pam.org This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page.