Pedro Almodovar’s Madres Paralelas to open the 78th Venice Film Festival

Spanish Filmmaker Pedro Almodovar's Madres Paralelas will open the 78th Venice Film Festival on September 1. Madres Paralelas stars Penelope Cruz and also features Israel Elejalde, Milena Smit, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Rossy De Palma and Julietta Serrano.

Janis and Ana are at the centre of the narrative. Their paths collide in a hospital room while they are about to give birth. In another parallel in their story, both of them got into unplanned pregnancies and are single.’

But the two of them are not of the same age and thereby respond to the situation differently. The middle-aged Janice is excited and feels unapologetic, with no regrets. But the adolescent Anna is terrified, resentful, and upset. Janice, gauging her predicament, and her inner turmoil, tries to comfort her as they move like somnambulists along the corridor. They connect through their exchange in these few hours and the chance connection gets complicated in such a way that it is set to impinge upon their lives and change them.

In a statement to Deadline, Almodovar deems it nothing less than joy and honour to be summoned to open the prestigious festival. He also exclaimed how he wished to live up to the recognition that was bestowed on him by the festival.

 Alberto Barbera, who has been extended as the artistic director of the Venice film festival told Deadline that he is grateful to the Law of Desire director for bringing forth his movie to open the festival. He went on to describe the film as ‘an intense, sensitive portrait of two women’ who are amid pregnancy and unexpected consequences. Barbera highlighted the merits of the film in depicting the relevant themes of women’s solidarity and their uninhibited sexuality against the inescapable need for truth. He went on to describe Almodovar’s involvement in the opening of the festival as a ‘welcome return’ to Venice.

Almodovar has got the 2019 Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Film Festival. The director was catapulted to international recognition with the resounding success of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.

The premiere is slated to be held at Lido. Denis Villeneuve’s Dune and David Gordon Green’s Halloween Kills have also been included in the festival. The star of Halloween kills, Jamie Lee Curtis is expected to receive the honorary Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at Venice.