Almodóvar: Filmmakers Have 'Moral Duty' to Oppose Far Right
SkimNews Take
Almodóvar frames cultural production as a necessary counter-power to political shifts, suggesting art's role extends beyond reflection to active intervention in democratic stability.
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- Pedro Almodóvar told filmmakers at the Cannes premiere of "Bitter Christmas" that they have a "moral duty" to speak up about politics, warning "Europe must never be subjected to Trump" and that "silence and fear is a symptom that things are going badly."
- Almodóvar wore a Free Palestine badge at the press conference and praised friend Javier Bardem's "No to war and free Palestine" Oscars moment as the ceremony's only note of protest, having earlier complained to the LA Times that there were "not many protests against the war or against Trump" at this year's Academy Awards.
- Canal+ head threatened to blacklist actors who signed a petition against rightwing shareholder Vincent Bolloré, a development that broke during Cannes and which Almodóvar cited as evidence that "democracy is crumbling" and Europe must "act as a shield against this madness."
- Bitter Christmas, Almodóvar's first Spanish-language film in five years, is his seventh entry in Cannes' main competition; the Palme d'Or has eluded him despite wins for best director (1999, "All About My Mother") and best screenplay (2006, "Volver").
- Bitter Christmas received a nine-minute standing ovation at its Tuesday premiere screening, though reviews have been mixed and the Guardian's Peter Bradshaw called it a "movie auto-metafiction" about a director interrogating his right to exploit friends' troubles.
- Far-right populist parties are leading national polls in France, Germany, and the UK, the political backdrop Almodóvar invoked when warning that the self-censorship he decries could soon reach the continent.
Why it matters: Almodóvar timed his warning to a moment when far-right parties lead polls in France, Germany, and the UK, and when Canal+ is already threatening to blacklist actors who signed a petition against Vincent Bolloré — a chilling pattern the director explicitly cited. For European filmmakers weighing whether to speak out, a Cannes premiere is one of the few platforms loud enough to frame that choice as itself a political act.
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