Pedro Almodóvar
- Writer
- Director
- Producer
The most internationally acclaimed Spanish filmmaker since Luis Buñuel was
born in a small town (Calzada de Calatrava) in the impoverished Spanish
region of La Mancha. He arrived in Madrid in 1968, and survived by
selling used items in the flea-market called El Rastro. Almodóvar
couldn't study filmmaking because he didn't have the money to afford
it. Besides, the filmmaking schools were closed in early 70s by
Franco's government. Instead, he found a job in the Spanish phone
company and saved his salary to buy a Super 8 camera. From 1972 to
1978, he devoted himself to make short films with the help of of his
friends. The "premieres" of those early films were famous in the
rapidly growing world of the Spanish counter-culture. In few years,
Almodóvar became a star of "La Movida", the pop cultural movement of
late 70s Madrid. His first feature film, Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls Like Mom (1980), was made in 16 mm and
blown-up to 35 mm for public release. In 1987, he and his brother
Agustín Almodóvar established their own production company: El Deseo, S. A. The
"Almodóvar phenomenon" has reached all over the world, making his films
very popular in many countries.
