There is no shortage of comparisons between Fellini’s 8 ½ and Pedro Almodóvar’s latest work, PAIN AND GLORY. Like Fellini, Almodóvar draws upon his own life to construct the story of a director in decline. As Salvador Mallo, Antonio Banderas is a man caught between past and present, reliving the experiences that have shaped him while he grapples with addiction and a state of creative stasis. Yet Almodóvar’s portrait of the artist in limbo is characterized by the particular blend of sexuality, nostalgia and familial attachment that the Spanish auteur has made his signature. A competitor for the Palme d’Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival - where Banderas received the Best Actor Award for his performance - PAIN AND GLORY is a confessional exploration of the toll that human relationships take and of the restorative power of creation.

Rosa is a middle-aged sex worker in Madrid whose neighbor, a Russian sex worker, overdoses, forcing the woman’s young daughter to seek refuge in Rosa’s apartment. This compelling drama took home the best screenplay prize at the Guadalajara International Film Festival. “An admirably abrasive by-women-for-women drama.” - Jonathan Holland, The Hollywood Reporter.

Federico Garcia Lorca’s classic play Blood Wedding serves as the basis for this engrossing drama. Feroz winner Inma Cuesta plays the title character, whose upcoming marriage is derailed by the arrival of an old flame (Álex García). Shot in Turkey by cinematographer Migue Amoedo, the film’s occasionally fantastical imagery elevates a tragic love triangle into the realm of poetry. With Luisa Gavasa. In Spanish with English subtitles.