Pedro Almodóvar's 'Madres paralelas' to open Venice Film Festival

Pedro Almodóvar's new film 'Madres paralelas' will open the 78th Venice International Film Festival on September 1, 2021, at the Sala Grande of the Palazzo del Cinema on the Lido. The film stars Penélope Cruz, Milena Smit, Israel Elejalde, and Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, with Julieta Serrano and Rossy De Palma. It is part of the official competition, directed by Alberto Barbera, who will lead the festival for the next four years. Almodóvar, who received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in 2019 and premiered 'The Human Voice' in 2020, expressed joy and honor at opening the festival, recalling his debut in Venice in 1983 in the Mezzogiorno Mezzanotte section. The film follows two single women, Janis and Ana, who share a hospital room while about to give birth—Janis, middle-aged and joyful, and Ana, a frightened teenager. Their brief exchanges create a strong bond, and fate complicates their lives dramatically. Produced by El Deseo and distributed in Italy by Warner Bros. Pictures, the film explores themes of motherhood, female solidarity, and sexuality. Almodóvar founded El Deseo with his brother Agustín in 1986, and his international breakthrough came with 'Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown' (1988), which won the Best Screenplay award at Venice. He has won Oscars for 'All About My Mother' (Best Foreign Language Film) and 'Talk to Her' (Best Original Screenplay).