Posted by Larry Gleeson

Director/Auteur Pedro Almodóvar waving to admirers at the AFI FEST 2021 Red Carpet Screening of his latest work, PARALLEL MOTHERS, TCL Chinese Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, Nov. 13, 2021. (Photo courtesy of AFI FEST)

 

Kudos to AFI FEST Programming Director Sarah Harris! Harris has delivered a plethora of the best in global cinema for this year’s festival and none bigger than Spanish auteur, Pedro Alamodovar’s  latest work, Parallel Mothers. Almodovar was at the historic Chinese Theatre for a Red Carpet Premiere yesterday, November 13th.

 

Sarah Harris, AFI FEST Programming Director welcomes the audience and introduces Director/Auteur Pedro Almodovar at the AFI FEST 2021 Red Carpet Screening of PARALLEL MOTHERS, TCL Chinese Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, Nov. 13, 2021. (Photo courtesy of AFI FEST)

 

Director/Auteur Pedro Almodóvar is all smiles after his introduction at the AFI FEST 2021 Red Carpet Screening of PARALLEL MOTHERS, TCL Chinese Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, Nov. 13, 2021. (Photo courtesy of AFI FEST)

Parallel Mothers stars Penelope Cruz with Melina Smit, Israel Elejalde, Aitana Sanchez-Gijon, Rossy de Palma, Julieta Serrano. The story follows two women Janis and Ana (both single mothers) from the moment they give birth to two daughters.

Janis is thrilled by her accidental pregnancy, seeing it as perhaps her last chance at motherhood, while the adolescent Ana is scared and traumatized by the ordeal. Both women find a lack of support raising their children and turn to each other for support.

What transpires between the two women is both intimate and deeply human and with a surgeon’s precision, Almodovar opens up the narrative and inserts a powerful message for all of humanity with recent (the last 85 years) Spanish history as the backdrop. A top pick for world cinema!

 

(L to R) Alonso Duralde and Director/Auteur Pedro Almodóvar in conversation at the AFI FEST 2021 Red Carpet Screening of PARALLEL MOTHERS, TCL Chinese Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, Nov. 13, 2021. (Photo courtesy of AFI FEST)

 

Following the screening, Almodóvar participated in a conversation with film critic Alonso Duralde about the 20+ years from the film’s genesis in 1998 to its present-day fruition. Almodovar spoke loudly and clearly for the need for more empathy and less denial and for more truth and less suppression as the poetic words of “history won’t keep its mouth shut,” were echoed around the theatre walls. Only at AFI FEST 2021.

 

Director/Auteur Pedro Almodóvar at the AFI FEST 2021 Red Carpet Screening of PARALLEL MOTHERS, TCL Chinese Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, Nov. 13, 2021. (Photo courtesy of AFI FEST)

 

Director/Auteur Pedro Almodóvar signing memorabilia at the AFI FEST 2021 Red Carpet Screening of PARALLEL MOTHERS, TCL Chinese Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, Nov. 13, 2021. (Photo courtesy of AFI FEST)

 

AFI FEST Programming Director Sarah Harris, right, stands by Director/Auteur Pedro Almodóvar at the AFI FEST 2021 Red Carpet Screening of PARALLEL MOTHERS, TCL Chinese Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, Nov. 13, 2021. (Photo courtesy of AFI FEST)