Pedro Almodovar to Begin Filming Latest Project “Parallel Mothers” Next Month

Pedro Almodovar is thisclose to starting work on his next film…

The 71-year-old Oscar-winning Spanish filmmaker is preparing to head into production on his next movie Parallel Mothers (Madres Paralelas).

Pedro Almodovar

The film will star Penelope Cruz alongside the newly-announced Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Israel Elejalde and Milena Smit.

The film is scheduled to begin filming by the end of March in Spain. Almodovar’s El Deseo is producing.

Almodovar said of the project:

“With Parallel Mothers I return to the female universe, to motherhood, to family. I speak of the importance of ancestors and descendants. The inevitable presence of memory. There are many mothers in my filmography, the ones that are part of this story are very different.

“As a storyteller, imperfect mothers inspire me most at this time. Penélope Cruz, Aitana Sánchez Gijón and the young Milena Smit will play the three mothers in the film, accompanied by Israel Elejalde in the main male character. I also have the collaboration of my beloved Julieta Serrano and Rossy de PalmaParallel Mothers will be an intense drama. Or so I hope.”

This will be Cruz’s seventh film with Almodovar. She first appeared in Live Flesh in 1997. Her other Almodovar credits include All About My Mother, Volver, Broken Embraces, I’m So Excited and Pain and Glory.

Sánchez-Gijón’s previous credits include A Walk in the Clouds and The Machinist.

Arvelo’s “The Liberator,” Starring Edgar Ramirez, Selected as Venezuela’s Oscar Submission for Foreign Language Film

Alberto Arvelo is one step closer to a possible Oscar nomination…

The Venezuelan filmmaker’s latest project The Liberator has been selected to be the country’s submission to the Foreign Language Film category for the next Academy Awards, according to the Venezuelan paper Ultimas Noticias.

The Liberator

The paper reports that a selection of Venezuelan film industry professionals voted on Arvelo’s film earlier this week.

The voting was reportedly divided between The Liberator and Mariana Rondon’s indie drama Bad Hair, winner of the Golden Shell at the San Sebastian Film Festival last year.

An absolute rarity for local standards in terms of production value, The Liberator is a $50 million co-production between Spain and Venezuela about military and political leader Simon Bolivar, who commanded an army that freed a great part of the region from Spanish colonialism back in the 19th century, and is regarded as a forefather of South America, together with Argentine Jose de San Martin.

The epic period piece stars Venezuela’s most high profile international actor Edgar Ramírez (Carlos, Zero Dark Thirty) as Bolivar, with a score by the L. A. Philharmonic’s music director Gustavo Dudamel, and a script by Timothy J. Sexton, who co-wrote Alfonso Cuaron’s Children of Men.

The film’s unusually international crew also features Spanish cinematographer Xavi Gimenez (The MachinistAgora), production designer Paul D. Austerberry (Twilight Saga: Eclipse), costume designer Sonia Grande (Midnight in Paris) and editor Tariq Anwar (American Beauty, The King’s Speech).

The Liberator opened in Venezuela on July 24, selling more than 500,000 tickets to date.

The film is scheduled for US release on October 3.