Pedro Almodóvar, director, on his new film, and the United States: “I’m sure I’m on an undesirable persons list”

Everything is set. On Friday, March 20, Pedro Almodóvar’s new film, Amarga Navidad (“Bitter Christmas”), will be released in international markets except the U.S. In Spain, the filmaker’s home country, there is a great deal of anticipation surrounding the project, which features a cast that includes Patrick Criado, Victoria Luengo, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Milena Smit, Quim Gutiérrez, Carmen Machi, and Rossy de Palma, among others.

What remains uncertain is how the film will be received in the United States, as the director himself is not even sure he wants to promote it there.

In an interview published by laSexta, Almodóvar explained that he was “very explicit” at Lincoln Center in New York, where he addressed Donald Trump to “say outrageous things to him because the things he was doing were outrageous.”

For that reason, the director of Bitter Christmas has not yet decided whether he will travel to the United States. “I’m sure I’m on a list of undesirable people, and I’m thinking about how to handle promotion in the United States. Just as I wouldn’t go to Russia or North Korea, I don’t want to go there. I don’t want to go to a place where there is a dictatorship and people are oppressed.”

Bitter Christmas opens in theaters on March 20 in Spain but Sony Pictures Classics, which holds the U.S. rights has yet to announce when it will be shown in the United States. As its title suggests, it is a family drama set during the holiday season. This is the official synopsis:

“Elsa is an advertising director whose mother dies during a long holiday weekend in December. She takes refuge in her work, although it is more of a way of running away. She works nonstop and, without realizing it, does not give herself the time she needs to grieve her mother’s death. Until a panic attack forces her to stop and take a break. Her partner, Bonifacio, becomes her lifeline during these moments of crisis. Elsa decides to travel to the island of Lanzarote with her friend Patricia, who also needs to get away from Madrid, while Bonifacio stays in the city.”

Pedro Almodóvar, director, on his new film, and the United States: “I’m sure I’m on an undesirable persons list”

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