Washington [US], August 15 : Spanish directing legend Pedro Almodovar will be honoured with the Donostia Award for "extraordinary contributions to cinema" at this year's San Sebastian Film Festival, as per The Hollywood Reporter.
Almodovar's second film, Pepi, Luci, Bom, premiered in San Sebastian in 1980, cementing his connection with the city. In 1982, he returned with Labyrinth of Passions, his first collaboration with Antonio Banderas and cinematographer Angel Luis Fernandez. This film established him as a talent to watch.
He would go on to celebrate international success with Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988), which swept Spain's Goya Awards and secured the director his first Oscar nomination; All About My Mother (1999), which won the Academy Award for best foreign-language film; and Talk to Her (2002), which was nominated for two Oscars and won Almodovar the best original screenplay honour.
He also collaborated with Banderas, Almodovar is also closely associated with Spanish star Penelope Cruz, who worked with him on such features as Volver (2006), Pain and Glory (2019), which also starred Banderas, and Parallel Mothers (2021).
"My career began in San Sebastian in the year 1980 and since then I have returned to the festival often, with or without a film. And I have always immensely enjoyed myself," the filmmaker said. "San Sebastian is one of the cities where the cinema is celebrated with enormous enthusiasm. More than ever, at these times, we need the complicity of the spectators, and their presence in the film theatres. It is a dream to attend a festival like this, where the cinemas are always full."
Almodovar will receive the Donostia Award in San Sebastian on Sept. 26 from Tilda Swinton, ahead of the screening of The Room Next Door, the director's English-language debut, with stars Swinton and Julianne Moore. The film premieres at the Venice Film Festival next month, as per The Hollywood Reporter.
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