Museum of Modern Art announces Pedro Almodóvar film retrospective

PanARMENIAN.Net - Pedro Almodóvar will be honored with a major career retrospective at The Museum of Modern Art from November 29 through December 17, 2016, Art Daily said.

Opening on November 29 with a special screening of Almódovar’s latest work and 20th feature film, Julieta (2016), to be released nationally on December 21, the retrospective will include all 20 of the director’s feature films, beginning with his first film Pepi, Luci, Bom, y otras chicas del montón (Pepi, Luci, Bom) from 1980. Pedro Almodóvar is organized by Rajendra Roy, The Celeste Bartos Chief Curator of Film, and La Frances Hui, Associate Curator, Department of Film, MoMA.

Almodóvar (Spanish, b. 1949) made his exuberant entry onto the film scene in 1980, riding a post-Franco countercultural wave in Spain, and established himself as one of the most distinctive voices in cinema. His work contributed to the creation of a new Spanish cultural and social order, and through his production company El Deseo (founded in 1986 with his brother Agustín) he has made some of the most globally influential films of the past 30 years. His genredefying films mix camp, melodrama, and humor to explore themes of transgression, desire, and identity. Almodóvar has constructed a colorful universe inhabited by offbeat characters, fluid sexual and gender identities, and complex and singular women. His all-inclusive, anything-goes spirit, which celebrates all beings, emotions, and reasons, appeals to a worldwide audience, allowing him to be at once a countercultural provocateur and the Oscar-winning writer/director of All About My Mother and Talk to Her.

Commenting on the announcement, Almodóvar said, “It is an honor to be back at MoMA, where I started my American career more than 30 years ago. I’ve always been happy at MoMA and it is a dream for me to have younger audiences discover my early films this way. I cannot think of a more prestigious venue or one closer to me than MoMA to open my latest film, Julieta. I hope I will rise to the occasion.”

Mr. Roy adds: “Our love affair with Pedro and his ravishing films began in 1984 when What Have I Done to Deserve This? was presented in New Directors/New Films, blossomed at the MoMA Film Benefit honoring him in 2011, and will culminate in December in the form of his retrospective. Expect hearty laughs, salty tears, and colorful conversation with this singular international master-filmmaker.”

In conjunction with the retrospective, Almodóvar will participate in an evening-long conversation and Q&A at the Museum, with the date and other details to be announced.