Simon HunterOSCAR-WINNING director Pedro Almodovar made history for Spanish cinema yesterday, when his first English-language feature, The Room Next Door, took the prestigious Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival.
By taking the prize, Almodovar now ranks alongside legendary director Luis Buñuel, who was until now the only Spanish director to have received it, for his 1967 film Belle de Jour.
The Room Next Door, which stars Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, tackles the subjects of the climate crisis and euthanasia, and received an 18-minute standing ovation when it premiered at Venice earlier this week.
“It’s a film in favour of euthanasia,” he said ahead of the premier, in comments reported by Reuters.
He explained that it highlighted the importance of cherishing life, but also made the case for people being able to choose when they wanted to die, and to be able to do so with dignity.
Euthanasia is now legal in Spain but continues to be outlawed in countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom.
Almodovar, 74, is Spain’s most celebrated movie director, and is also a producer and scriptwriter.
He shot to fame in the 1980s thanks to films such as Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.
He has won two Oscars during his career as well as many gongs at the Spanish Goya film awards.
