Pedro Almodóvar argues that artists have a “moral duty” to speak out about politics
Filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar has argued that filmmakers have a “moral duty” to speak out against the worsening current political climate.
At the Cannes premiere of his upcoming film, the director responded to queries regarding earlier comments he had made, in which he critiqued the lack of protests at the Oscars earlier this year.
The filmmaker shared, as per The Guardian, “I don’t want to judge anyone, but I think artists have to speak out about the situation in which they live in contemporary society.”
While adorning a ‘Free Palestine’ badge on his outfit, Almodóvar added, “It’s a moral duty.”
The Spanish director went on, “Silence and fear is a symptom that things are going badly, it’s a serious sign democracy is crumbling. In Europe we have laws […] we have to act as a shield against this madness.”
Speaking at Cannes, the filmmaker mused that if people in his position don’t resist the rise of the far-right, they will enable the kind of stifling of free speech on the rise in the US. He warned, “Europe must never be subjected to Trump”.
Almodóvar has been a longtime critic of the Donald Trump administration, saying last year that the president would be remembered in history as a “catastrophe”.
He also added, “The US is not a democracy right now. Some people say it’s maybe an imperfect democracy, but I really don’t think the US is a democracy right now.”
However, when asked if he fears that speaking out against this could harm his career, the filmmaker was resolute in his opinions: “Not at all”.
Almodóvar is in attendance at Cannes Film Festival for his first Spanish-language film in five years, Bitter Christmas, an investigation into the moral shadows of mining the personal lives of their loved ones for creative inspiration.
Never Miss A Scene
The Far Out Film Newsletter
All the latest film news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.