A selection of movies by Pedro Almodóvar, an acclaimed Spanish filmmaker, will be presented during the "Spanish Film Festival: Pedro Almodóvar Film Retrospective" which kicks off tomorrow and runs until Dec 9, at Alliance Francaise, Witthayu Road.
Organised by the Embassy of Spain in collaboration with the Thai Film Archive, the festival aims to empower feminism and celebrate inclusiveness through the oeuvre of Almodóvar. Seven of his best works spanning three decades will be screened every Tuesday and Thursday at 6.30pm.
While his cinematic entirety remains faithful to the roots of Spain, celebrations of feminism and inclusiveness conveyed and displayed on-screen converge and resonate on the global stage and likewise in Thailand. As for Almodóvar's film retrospective, all appear to share one thing in common -- a portrayal of women facing challenges and societal pressures.
The festival will open with What Have I Done To Deserve This? (1984) which depicts female frustrations and family breakdown in post-Franco Spain. It stars the legendary Carmen Maura.
Then, Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown (1988) centres on a female character's life after a sudden breakup. Its actual Spanish movie title refers to "ataque de nervios", a culture-bound psychological syndrome where individuals dramatically respond to upsetting events.
Meanwhile, High Heels (1991) navigates the mother-daughter relationship amid a murder mystery and The Flower Of My Secret (1995) presents a mix of comedy and melodrama built around a successful romance writer, yet an unlucky wife.
The programme also includes Almodóvar's Academy Awards-winning titles All About My Mother (1999), which sets forth the power of sisterhood and family, and Talk To Her (2002), which explores the relationship between two men caring for the comatose women they love.
The final screening will be his latest and Cannes' Palme d'Or-nominated masterpiece Pain And Glory (2019), a semi-autobiographical of his long career. It tells the story of an ageing Spanish film director suffering from chronic illness and creative crisis who revisits childhood moments in flashbacks.
All movies will be screened in voice-over with English subtitles. Tickets cost 60 baht.
