Pedro Almodóvar

Directing

Pedro Almodóvar

Born 1949-09-25 · Calzada de Calatrava, Ciudad Real, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

Pedro Almodóvar Caballero (born September 25, 1949) is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer. Almodóvar is arguably the most successful and internationally known Spanish filmmaker of his generation. His films, marked by complex narratives, employ the codes of melodrama and use elements of pop culture, popular songs, irreverent humor, strong colors, glossy décor and LGBT themes. Desire, passion, family and identity are among Almodóvar’s most prevalent themes. His films enjoy a worldwide following and he has become a major figure on the stage of world cinema. He founded Spanish film production company El Deseo S.A. with his younger brother Agustín Almodóvar who has produced almost all of Pedro’s films. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2001.

Acting credits

Wandering Heart poster
4.5

Wandering Heart intimately follows Caetano from São Paulo to New York and Japan, during the release of his first album recorded solely in English. It takes considerably more than a week-long series of shows at Carnegie Hall, accolades in the New York Times, or the admiration of friends like Pedro Almodóvar, David Byrne and Michelangelo Antonioni to make Caetano feel comfortable outside of Brazil.

Wandering Heart

2009

Labyrinth of Passion poster
6.0

An array of outrageous people, including a desperate nymphomaniac and a terrorist with an acute sense of smell, seek love and happiness in Madrid.

Labyrinth of Passion

1982

Law of Desire poster
7.1

Pablo, a successful film director, disappointed in his relationship with his young lover, Juan, concentrates in a new project, a monologue starring his transgender sister, Tina. Antonio, an uptight young man, falls possessively in love with the director and in his passion would stop at nothing to obtain the object of his desire.

Law of Desire

1987

Matador poster
6.7

A conflicted youth confesses to crimes he didn't commit while a man and woman aroused by death become obsessed with each other.

Matador

1986

Madonna: Truth or Dare poster
6.2

From the rains of Japan, through threats of arrest for 'public indecency' in Canada, and a birthday tribute to her father in Detroit, this documentary follows Madonna on her 1990 'Blond Ambition' concert tour. Filmed in black and white, with the concert pieces in glittering MTV color, it is an intimate look at the work of the icon, from a prayer circle before each performance to bed games with the dance troupe afterwards.

Madonna: Truth or Dare

1991

We Are Cinema poster
9.5

An Italian documentary about Italian cinema.

We Are Cinema

2021

What Have I Done to Deserve This? poster
7.1

A henpecked housewife ekes out a meager existence, surrounded by a host of colorful characters: her ungrateful husband, her delinquent sons, her headstrong mother-in-law, and her sex worker neighbor, among others.

What Have I Done to Deserve This?

1984

Dark Habits poster
6.6

After her drug pusher boyfriend overdoses on heroin, a cabaret singer finds refuge from the authorities in a convent for fallen women.

Dark Habits

1983

Pepi, Luci, Bom poster
6.3

After a young heiress is assaulted by a policeman, she seeks revenge by befriending the policeman’s mousy wife and introducing her to her circle of outrageous punk friends.

Pepi, Luci, Bom

1980

Icónica Chamorro poster
2.0

Journalist Paloma Chamorro symbolized openness and modernity in Spain in the early 1980s. Her personality and her shows on TVE (then the only TV channel in the country) made her an influential transgressive icon.

Icónica Chamorro

2023

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired poster
6.3

Examines the public scandal and private tragedy which led to legendary director Roman Polanski's sudden flight from the United States.

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

2008

Words in Progress poster
5.5

Documentary featuring footage from six decades of Cannes Film Festivals.

Words in Progress

2004

Almodóvar, l'insolent de la Mancha poster
7.9

An anti-conformist, Pedro Almodovar has dared everything in his immense cinematic career. Confronting impulses, drugs and unbridled sexuality, cross-dressing identities, over the years he has allowed a colorful, uninhibited, taboo-free post-Franco cinema to blossom. In a Spain now caught up in its past, the native of La Mancha embodies all those Spanish generations who know how important it is to remember and protect this artistic insolence at all costs.

Almodóvar, l'insolent de la Mancha

2023

Brunes et Blondes poster
NR

Actresses' hairstyle in movies always carries a strong aesthetic statement associated with erotic, social, and historical meanings. In a bold and unexpected way, the film revisits this ultimate symbol of femininity in international cinema.

Brunes et Blondes

2010

Frenesí en la gran ciudad poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Frenesí en la gran ciudad

2011

Chavela poster
6.9

Inspired by an exclusive interview and performance footage of Chavela Vargas shot in 1991 and guided by her unique voice, the film weaves an arresting portrait of a woman who dared to dress, speak, sing, and dream her unique life into being.

Chavela

2017

Pictures of Europe poster
NR

What makes European cinema so special? Find out in Paul Joyce’s feature-length documentary, Pictures of Europe, which examines the differences between American independent and Hollywood movies and films from European directors. Featuring luminary iconoclasts from European cinema such as Agnes Varda, Bernardo Bertolucci and Pedro Almodovar, as well as American counterpoints from Paul Schrader, and those who have crossed back and forth, such as Paul Verhoeven

Pictures of Europe

1990

A Free Man poster
NR

In the 1970s, Agustín Gómez Arcos rose to the top of French literature, while in his own country, Spain, his name remained hidden. A Free Man reflects on the recent history of Spain through silences, lost stories and the role of culture and memory.

A Free Man

2025

Rapture poster
6.7

José Sirgado is a low-budget filmmaker whose heroin addiction distorts his perspective of the real world. Although he is a depressed and unstable individual, his mood improves when he receives the mysterious films of Pedro, with whom he shares his passion for cinema.

Rapture

1980

El Calentito poster
5.1

Early 80's, Sara is a good-family girl, she has never been with a man, does not drinks, does not take drugs. Following her love, she enters in "El Calentito" a bar where the group "las Siux" is singing.

El Calentito

2005

No artwork available
5.0

No synopsis available yet.

Tiempos de constitución

1978

El viaje de Julieta poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

El viaje de Julieta

2023

The Making of Pain and Glory poster
NR

A B-roll behind-the-scenes featurette providing insight into Pain and Glory’s production, with interviews from Almodóvar and Banderas.

The Making of Pain and Glory

2020

What's a Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This? poster
4.0

Persecuted by her controlling ex-husband, Rosa plots an escape

What's a Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This?

1978

Behind the camera

The Skin I Live In poster
7.5

A brilliant plastic surgeon creates a synthetic skin that withstands any kind of damage. His guinea pig: a mysterious and volatile woman who holds the key to his obsession.

The Skin I Live In

2011

The Skin I Live In poster
7.5

A brilliant plastic surgeon creates a synthetic skin that withstands any kind of damage. His guinea pig: a mysterious and volatile woman who holds the key to his obsession.

The Skin I Live In

2011

The Room Next Door poster
6.7

Ingrid and Martha were close friends in their youth, when they worked together at the same magazine. Ingrid went on to become an autofiction novelist while Martha became a war reporter, and they were separated by the circumstances of life. After years of being out of touch, they meet again in an extreme but strangely sweet situation.

The Room Next Door

2024

The Room Next Door poster
6.7

Ingrid and Martha were close friends in their youth, when they worked together at the same magazine. Ingrid went on to become an autofiction novelist while Martha became a war reporter, and they were separated by the circumstances of life. After years of being out of touch, they meet again in an extreme but strangely sweet situation.

The Room Next Door

2024

Sirāt poster
6.9

A man and his son arrive at a rave lost in the mountains of Morocco. They are looking for Marina, their daughter and sister, who disappeared months ago at another rave. Driven by fate, they decide to follow a group of ravers in search of one last party, in hopes Marina will be there.

Sirāt

2025

Volver poster
7.5

Three generations of women deal with family secrets while surviving the east wind, fire, insanity, superstition, lies and even death.

Volver

2006

Volver poster
7.5

Three generations of women deal with family secrets while surviving the east wind, fire, insanity, superstition, lies and even death.

Volver

2006

Bitter Christmas poster
6.3

After her mother dies in December, advertising director Elsa immerses herself in work to cope. When a panic attack forces her to take a break, she decides to travel to Lanzarote with her friend Patricia. The story of these women run parallel to that of a screenwriter and film director, exploring how life and fiction are inseparably linked, sometimes painfully so.

Bitter Christmas

2026

Bitter Christmas poster
6.3

After her mother dies in December, advertising director Elsa immerses herself in work to cope. When a panic attack forces her to take a break, she decides to travel to Lanzarote with her friend Patricia. The story of these women run parallel to that of a screenwriter and film director, exploring how life and fiction are inseparably linked, sometimes painfully so.

Bitter Christmas

2026

All About My Mother poster
7.6

Following the tragic death of her teenage son, Manuela travels from Madrid to Barcelona in an attempt to contact the long-estranged father the boy never knew. She reunites with an old friend, an outspoken transgender sex worker, and befriends a troubled actress and a pregnant, HIV-positive nun.

All About My Mother

1999

All About My Mother poster
7.6

Following the tragic death of her teenage son, Manuela travels from Madrid to Barcelona in an attempt to contact the long-estranged father the boy never knew. She reunites with an old friend, an outspoken transgender sex worker, and befriends a troubled actress and a pregnant, HIV-positive nun.

All About My Mother

1999

Wild Tales poster
7.9

Injustice and the demands of the world can cause stress for many people. Some of them, however, explode. This includes a waitress serving a grouchy loan shark, an altercation between two motorists, an ill-fated wedding reception, and a wealthy businessman who tries to buy his family out of trouble.

Wild Tales

2014

Talk to Her poster
7.6

Two men share an odd friendship while they care for two women who are both in deep comas.

Talk to Her

2002

Talk to Her poster
7.6

Two men share an odd friendship while they care for two women who are both in deep comas.

Talk to Her

2002

Talk to Her poster
7.6

Two men share an odd friendship while they care for two women who are both in deep comas.

Talk to Her

2002

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown poster
7.4

After being dumped by her lover, Pepa finds her life and the lives of those around her spiraling out of control in a deliciously chaotic series of events.

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

1988

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown poster
7.4

After being dumped by her lover, Pepa finds her life and the lives of those around her spiraling out of control in a deliciously chaotic series of events.

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

1988

Parallel Mothers poster
6.8

Two unmarried women who have become pregnant by accident and are about to give birth meet in a hospital room: Janis, in her late-thirties, unrepentant and happy; Ana, a teenager, remorseful and frightened.

Parallel Mothers

2021

Parallel Mothers poster
6.8

Two unmarried women who have become pregnant by accident and are about to give birth meet in a hospital room: Janis, in her late-thirties, unrepentant and happy; Ana, a teenager, remorseful and frightened.

Parallel Mothers

2021

Bad Education poster
7.4

When an old friend brings filmmaker Enrique Goded a semi-autobiographical script chronicling their adolescence, Enrique is forced to relive his youth spent at a Catholic boarding school. Weaving through past and present, the script follows a transvestite performer who reconnects with a grade school sweetheart. Spurred on by this chance encounter, the character reflects on her childhood sexual victimization and the trauma of closeting her sexual orientation.

Bad Education

2004

Bad Education poster
7.4

When an old friend brings filmmaker Enrique Goded a semi-autobiographical script chronicling their adolescence, Enrique is forced to relive his youth spent at a Catholic boarding school. Weaving through past and present, the script follows a transvestite performer who reconnects with a grade school sweetheart. Spurred on by this chance encounter, the character reflects on her childhood sexual victimization and the trauma of closeting her sexual orientation.

Bad Education

2004

Bad Education poster
7.4

When an old friend brings filmmaker Enrique Goded a semi-autobiographical script chronicling their adolescence, Enrique is forced to relive his youth spent at a Catholic boarding school. Weaving through past and present, the script follows a transvestite performer who reconnects with a grade school sweetheart. Spurred on by this chance encounter, the character reflects on her childhood sexual victimization and the trauma of closeting her sexual orientation.

Bad Education

2004

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! poster
6.8

After being released from a mental hospital, a troubled young man tracks down an actress he once had sex with and forces her into captivity, determined to make her part of his life.

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!

1990

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! poster
6.8

After being released from a mental hospital, a troubled young man tracks down an actress he once had sex with and forces her into captivity, determined to make her part of his life.

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!

1990