Pedro Almodovar won the Golden Lion this Saturday at the 81st edition of the Venice International Film Festival for the film The next piecethe first film shot entirely in English and starring Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore.
This is his first feature film shot entirely in English, following the short films “The Human Voice”, also starring Tilda Swinton, and “Strange Way of Life”, starring Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal, which had their world premieres at the Venice and Cannes Film Festivals, respectively.
The Room Next Door, which will be released in Spanish theaters on October 18, is Almodóvar’s first film shot in English. The film tells the story of a mother (Swinton) and a daughter separated by a great misunderstanding and, between them, another woman, Ingrid (Moore), a friend of the mother, repository of the pain and bitterness of both.
At the official press conference, the director presented the film as a “response to the hate speech that resounds every day” in Spain and “in the world”. The filmmaker took the opportunity to “send a message to open arms to all those unaccompanied children who are fighting to reach our borders” and that the extreme right intends to transform into “invaders”.
Shot between Madrid and New York, the film also stars Alessandro Nivola, Juan Diego Botto, Raúl Arévalo, Melina Matthews and Victoria Luengo. The film is based on the novel “What is your torment” by Sigrid Nunez.
Almodóvar’s film competed with other important titles such as the second part of “Joker”, also directed by Todd Phillips and starring Joaquín Phoenix and Lady Gaga, in addition to titles by renowned filmmakers such as Pablo Larraín (Maria, starring Angelina Jolie), Luca Guadagnino (“Queer, starring Daniel Craig), Dea Kulumbegashvili (“April”) or Walter Salles (“I’m Still Here”).
