PEDRO ALMODOVAR

Suspended between darkness and forgiveness, sacrilege and tenderness, Pedro Almodóvar proves why he became the enfant terrible of Spanish cinema in the 1980s with a radical, feverish film about sin, desire, and the human need to belong somewhere. — A young singer loses her lover to a drug overdose and seeks refuge in a convent that turns out to be anything but a safe haven, as she encounters women struggling with their own addictions, forbidden desires, and personal guilt.

Pills, vacuum cleaners, and a marriage-as-prison. This explosive anti-melodrama about female exhaustion fuses social satire with irreverent slapstick in one of the most inventive moments of Almodóvar’s early period. — Gloria, a Spanish cleaning woman living a chaotic life, shares a cramped apartment with her grumpy husband Antonio, their two trouble-prone sons, and her ruthless mother-in-law. With little emotional support, Gloria is pushed to her limits when an argument with her husband leads to a macabre turn of events. As she struggles to deal with the consequences, a series of eccentric characters enter the scene, amplifying the madness.

In one of Almodóvar’s early triumphs, a dark erotic triangle becomes entangled in games of violence and obsession, spiraling toward a tempestuous finale. The film that shattered the boundaries of Spanish cinema in the 1980s. — After an uncertain breakup with Juan, successful porn filmmaker Pablo meets Antonio and embarks on a brief sexual relationship with him. When Juan decides to write to Pablo, Antonio inserts himself into their correspondence, having developed a violent obsession. Pablo is terrified by this turn of events, yet simultaneously enters a new phase of creative inspiration while working on a play about his trans sister. — Teddy Award for Best Feature Film | Berlin Film Festival | 1987

Pedro Almodóvar teams up for the first time with Victoria Abril, and together with Antonio Banderas they create one of his biggest box-office hits in Spain, a film balancing between romantic comedy and thriller. — A former psychiatric patient kidnaps a porn actress and tries to force her to become his wife and the mother of his children. — Official Selection | Berlin Film Festival | 1990

A mother–daughter relationship pushed to absolute extremes. In a theatrically charged noir melodrama filled with desire, guilt, and performance, two women become suspects in the murder of the same man, as Almodóvar transforms a courtroom thriller into an emotional confession. — Fifteen years after leaving her daughter Rebeca in Madrid to pursue her career, an aging actress returns to the city only to discover that Rebeca has married one of her former lovers. Matters grow more complicated when both women become suspects in the murder of the same man. — Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film | Golden Globes | 1992

In perhaps his most extreme and provocative film, Pedro Almodóvar pushes melodrama and farce to their limits, creating a satire of violence, voyeurism, and the commodification of private life, while also introducing the iconic character of Andrea Caracortada. — A woman overflowing with life, innocence, and boundless optimism loses all control over her existence when her path crosses with a sex-addicted porn actor, a serial killer hiding in plain sight, and a television reporter who feeds on scandal. — Best Lead Actress (Verónica Forqué) | Goya Awards | 1994

In the mid-1990s, foreshadowing his transition into full artistic maturity, Pedro Almodóvar takes a break from explosive excess and turns to a deeply introspective study of female desire, frustration, and creative crisis, with a mesmerizing Marisa Paredes as both muse and protagonist. — A successful writer of romantic novels crafts stories of passion while her own life sinks into silence and alienation. When emotional collapse becomes inevitable, she returns to her roots in order to reinvent herself. — Best Actress (Marisa Paredes) | Karlovy Vary International Film Festival | 1996

At the beginning of the second, more mature phase of his career, Pedro Almodóvar abandons the farcical excesses of his early years in favor of a darker, more disciplined narrative that masterfully explores how past actions leave indelible marks on both body and conscience. — Against the backdrop of a constantly changing Madrid, a chance incident sets off a chain reaction in the lives of four people whose paths intersect through love, crippled desires, and moral dead ends. — Nominated for Best Film Not in the English Language | BAFTA Awards | 1999 Nominated for Best Foreign Independent Film | British Independent Film Awards | 1998 Best Supporting Actor (José Sancho) | Goya Awards | 1998

One of the greatest moments in the Spanish master's filmography, this colourful, exuberant, totally idiosyncratic melodrama is a must-see for all lovers of the Almodovar universe and for all those who believe in beauty and friendship. — A single mother watches her only son die on the day of his 17th birthday in an attempt to get an autograph from an actress. Because of the painful loss, the woman decides to track down the child's father, a choice that paves the way for an existential odyssey she could never have imagined. — Best International Film | Oscars | 2000 Best Director | Cannes Film Festival | 1999 FIPRESCI Prize | San Sebastian Film Festival | 1999 Best European Film | European Film Awards | 2000 Best Director | BAFTA | 2000

Perhaps the most daringly personal work of the great auteur, Pedro Almodóvar’s mature melodrama blends memory and fiction, taking aim at religious repression and the need for revelation in all its forms. — When an old friend brings filmmaker Enrique Goded a semi-autobiographical script recounting their adolescence, Enrique is forced to relive his youth spent in a Catholic boarding school. Interweaving past and present, the script follows a person reconnecting with a beloved figure from childhood while reflecting on the abuse endured at a young age. — Nominated for Best Film Not in the English Language | BAFTA Awards | 2005 Nominated for Best European Director | European Film Awards | 2004 Nominated for Best European Screenwriter | European Film Awards | 2004

At the height of his artistic maturity, Pedro Almodóvar directs a multilayered melodrama infused with thriller elements and cinematic self-reflexivity, where creation and loss coexist and cinema becomes, at once, refuge, trauma, and redemption. — A blind screenwriter retrieves from memory the story of a past, fatal love affair with a woman trapped in a relationship defined by power and jealousy. — Official Selection | Cannes Film Festival | 2009 Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film | Golden Globes | 2010 Nominated for Best Film Not in the English Language | BAFTA Awards | 2010

Antonio Banderas delivers the performance of his career as the director's on-screen alter ego and Pedro Almodóvar offers his own take on Fellini's 8½ in a deeply moving film about the memories of youth, the melancholy of old age, the fear of death and the "pain and glory" of artistic creation. Put simply, he made his masterpiece. — A middle-aged filmmaker suffering from chronic back pain and migraines revisits the memories of his "glorious" past, reflects on the mistakes and defining moments that shaped him and redefines his relationship with both art and life. — Nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Antonio Banderas) | Oscars | 2020 Nominated for Best International Feature Film | Oscars | 2020 Best Actor (Antonio Banderas) | Cannes Film Festival | 2019 Best Composer | Cannes Film Festival | 2019 Nominated for Best Film Not in the English Language | BAFTA | 2020 Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film | Golden Globes | 2020 Official Selection | San Sebastian International Film Festival | 2019 Best Film | Goya Awards | 2020 Best Lead Actor (Antonio Banderas) | Goya Awards | 2020 Best Director | Goya Awards | 2020

In the most political movie of his career, Almodóvar brings together personal and historical memory, placing women at the heart of both and moves audiences with remarkable ease. All this comes wrapped in a beautifully written melodrama that, as is often the case with his work, also serves as a tribute to motherhood and the female experience. — Two women, Janis and Ana, give birth on the same day in the same hospital. They remain in touch for a while before losing contact. Years later Janis uncovers a devastating secret that she keeps hidden from everyone. A chance reunion with Ana intertwines their lives once again. — Nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Penélope Cruz) | Oscars | 2022 Nominated for Best Original Score | Oscars | 2022 Best Actress (Penélope Cruz) | Venice Film Festival | 2021 Nominated for Queer Lion Award | Venice Film Festival | 2021 Nominated for Best Film Not in the English Language | BAFTA | 2022 Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film | Golden Globes | 2022 Nominated for Best Original Score | Golden Globes | 2022 International Star Award | Palm Springs IFF | 2022

After his English-language detour with "The Room Next Door", Pedro Almodóvar, one of the most beloved directors among Greek audiences, returns to his homeland with a deeply personal, semi-autobiographical work that revisits the bittersweet interplay between cinema and life. — Director of commercials Elsa is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. By her side is her partner, Bonifacio, who works as both a firefighter and a stripper. Plagued by doubts about their relationship and attempting to write a screenplay, she leaves Madrid for a while and escapes to an island with her close friend Patricia. At the same time, renowned filmmaker Raúl Rossetti finds himself grappling with similar challenges in his own life. — Official Selection | Cannes Film Festival | 2026