Pedro Almodóvar was asked by one Spanish journalist at today’s Cannes press conference for his pic Bitter Christmas about “Hollywood being in crisis and Canal+ threatening creators.”
The latter refers to Canal+ Chair and CEO, the Maxime Saada, who said that the conglom won’t work with those who signed the Time To Switch-Off Bolloré” petition which sounded the alarm over tycoon Vincent Bolloré’s growing control of the French entertainment and media sectors. Those who signed the petition include Juliette Binoche, Cannes 2026 Palme d’Or contenders Arthur Harari and Bertrand Mandico as well as directors Yann Gonzalez, Sepideh Farsi and actors Adèle Haenel, Zita Hanrot, Samuel Kircher, Ariane Labed, Anna Mouglalis and Jean-Pascal Zadi among others.
“Artists have to speak out and speak to the institutions in contemporary society — it’s a moral duty,” said the Oscar winning filmmaker.
“Silence, and fear…silence is an expression of fear. They’re a symptom that things are going really badly. It’s a serious sign that democracy is a crumbling. Creators must speak out.”
“The worst thing to happen to us to stay silent. We have a moral obligation to speak out about all these things. We need to turn against Netanyahu. In Europe, we have laws, there are certain limits. We have to act as a shield against this madness,” the filmmaker continued ending on “Europe should never be subjected to Trump!” Almodovar was wearing a “Free Palestine” pin at the conference.
At which point the press room erupted into great applause.
Before last year’s Cannes kicked off, Almodóvar signed an open Pro-Palestinian letter alongside Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon, denouncing “genocide” in Gaza.
Bitter Christmas is a pair of parallel stories about a successful writer-director who is experiencing creative block, and a group of people 22 years earlier who may or not figure into his latest screenplay. The present-day story set in the summer revolves around filmmaker Raúl Rossetti (Leonardo Sbaraglia), who is in a deep funk, unable to again find the mojo that made him a success. The second story revolves around another filmmaker, Elsa (Bárbara Lennie), who had directed a couple of feature flops and is instead now using her talents in advertising and commercials. The pic received a seven minute standing ovation at its world premiere last night.
Would Almodóvar entertain a thriller involving the current right wing state of the world? Why, yes.
“I want to discover a universe that’s different from my own. I would like to change direction and paths,” he said, “this is the last film about myself.