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Pedro Almodóvar’s new film “Parallel Mothers,” starring Penelope Cruz, will open the upcoming Venice Film Festival in September.

Almodóvar’s hotly anticipated pic, which was shot during the pandemic, will world premiere on the Venice Lido in competition on September 1.

The film sees the Spanish auteur reuniting with Cruz, a frequent collaborator, most recently in Almodóvar’s 2019 “Pain and Glory” opposite Antonio Banderas. “Mothers” also stars former San Sebastián fest best actress winner Aitana Sánchez Gijón (“Volaverunt”) and newcomer Milena Smit (“No matarás”).

Almodóvar’ latest work centers on three mothers — portrayed by Cruz, Gijón and Smit — and expands his previous depictions of womanhood, by turning his focus on imperfect mothers, in a departure from his prior works exploring mothers and motherhood which include “All About My Mother” and “Pain and Glory.”

Sony Pictures Classics has rights for North America, Australia and New Zealand on the film which is produced...

Spanish film director whose 'Iberian passion' trilogy began with Jamon Jamon

For 39 years, under General Francisco Franco's repressive regime, it was almost impossible for Spain to create a vibrant film industry and for talented film-makers to express themselves freely. However, after the death of the Generalissimo in 1975, there was a burst of creativity, with Pedro Almodóvar paving the way for directors such as Bigas Luna, who has died of cancer aged 67.

After some years as a conceptual artist who experimented with new audio-visual media, Luna became known internationally for his "Iberian passion" feature film trilogy: Jamon Jamon (1992), Golden Balls (1993) and The Tit and the Moon (1994), which explored the darkest depths of eroticism and stereotypical Spanish machismo. The first film introduced Penélope Cruz to audiences and launched Javier Bardem as the embodiment of the Spanish stud. "I owe my career to Bigas Luna," Bardem said in 2001.

In the trilogy, Luna,...

So just over two years ago I ran an article about a Spanish short film written and directed by Julien Zenier titled Snip. As it turned out we were the first to do a write up and as the story goes a couple weeks later, because of our article, Snip was invited to its first festival. Thus began a successful festival run as word spread about Zenier`s savage and punishing short film. It is the feel good story of the day!

And now that the festival run has been completed Zenier has made his short film available online and you can watch it after the break. 

Glued to his TV set, a man channel-surfs frenetically, zapping from one stultifying show to the other. As he grows more and more indifferent to the constant stream of violent and crude images, he stands up and engages himself in an unspeakable act of self-liberation.

The World Premiere of Carlos Sorín‘s La Ventana (The Window) at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival came and went as quietly as the film’s narrative about the last day in the life of Antonio, an 80-year-old writer awaiting the visit of his estranged son on his hacienda in northern Patagonia. As he takes stock and reminisces, he looks out the window at his fields, the sun, the buzzing life that beckons him even as it fades before his eyes. Distinguished Argentine filmmaker Carlos Sorín once again trains his camera on the small stories written by life, on the humanity behind human beings. By casting the great Uruguayan writer and scriptwriter Antonio Larreta in the lead role, Sorín establishes a link between fiction and reality that makes the protagonist’s fears, hopes and wishes even more palpable. Larreta won the Premio Planeta (the second most valuable literary award in...