About this Event
Join us for a conversation with Pedro Almodóvar to celebrate his new book, a stunning monograph detailing the artwork, illustrations, graphics, and inspirations behind his internationally acclaimed films. He will be in conversation with Rajendra Roy.
PLEASE NOTE: This is a ticketed event.
- Tickets include either a copy of the event book or a $20 store voucher that can be used towards any purchase in store.
- The books will be pre-signed.
- Pedro Almodóvar will not be signing any copies of the book.
- This event is mixed seated/standing. Seats are first come, first served.
- Doors open at 4:30 pm.
Can't attend?
A sprawling and riotous look at the art, illustrations, and graphics used in Almodóvar’s films, from exuberantly patterned interiors and art to boldly designed movie posters and promotional materials. All copies have been signed by Almodóvar.
Anyone who’s ever watched an Almodóvar film remembers the bold, colorful graphics that announce the movie, successfully setting the conceptual tone before the first scene even begins. Celebrated for films that tell a story through a vivid use of color, pattern, and design, he immerses viewers in the milieu with stylized sets and costumes that conjure a glamorous, retro, and slightly madcap world.
Created by the filmmaker’s longtime creative director, this is an ode to the artistic designs of the many films in the director’s extensive oeuvre. These pages hold his hand-picked curation of photographs, illustrations, artwork, and typography that make up the look and feel of every Almodóvar creation.
With stills and promotional posters from well-known films such as All About My Mother, Talk to Her, Volver, and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, as well as eye-catching pieces from lesser-known works such as Julieta and The Human Voice, the volume delivers a thorough and comprehensive look at Almodóvar’s rich aesthetic.
An event for film lovers and filmmakers around the world, this extraordinary 600-page publication illustrates the intersection of art and film and how graphic language appeals to an international audience. The collection of posters and graphics reflect the various languages and cultures these films have been released in, making the book a must-have for collectors.
El Deseo, photos by Nico Bustos
Pedro Almodóvar was born in Calzada de Calatrava, in the heart of La Mancha, in the 50s. At seventeen, he left home and moved to Madrid, with no money and no job, but with a very specific project in mind: to study cinema and direct films. It was impossible to enrol in the Official Film School because Franco had just closed it. Despite the dictatorship that was suffocating the country, for an adolescent from the provinces Madrid represented culture, independence and freedom.
He worked at many sporadic jobs, but he couldn’t buy his first Super-8mm camera until he got a “serious” job at the National Telephone Company of Spain in 1971. He worked there for twelve years as an administrative assistant. In the mornings, his job gave him an in-depth knowledge of the Spanish middle class at the start of the consumer era, with its dramas and its misfortunes, a real gold mine for a future storyteller. In the evenings, he wrote, loved, acted with the mythical independent theatre group Los Goliardos and made films in Super-8. He also collaborated with various underground magazines and wrote stories, and he was a member of a parody punk-rock group, Almodóvar & McNamara. He had the good fortune that his personal explosion coincided with the explosion of the democratic Madrid of the last seventies, early eighties. That was the period the world knew as la Movida.
After a year and a half of eventful shooting on 16mm, in 1980 he opened Pepi, Luci, Bom, a no-budget film made as a cooperative effort with the rest of the crew and the cast, all beginners, except for Carmen Maura.
In 1986, he founded the production company El Deseo with his brother Agustín. Their first project was Law of Desire. Since then, they have produced all the films that Pedro has written and directed, they have also produced other young directors.
In these past years, Pedro Almodóvar has received some of the national and international most prestigious film awards. He keeps on working with the same passion as ever.
In 2007, Rajendra Roy joined The Museum of Modern Art as the Celeste Bartos Chief Curator of Film, a role in which he leads MoMA’s year-round initiatives to exhibit and preserve works from its collection of over 30,000 titles. In collaboration with colleagues at MoMA and partner institutions, he has organized numerous exhibitions, including Julia Reichert: 50 Years in Film (2019), “The Chelsea Girls” Exploded (2018), Teiji Furuhashi: Lovers (2016–17), Nan Goldin: The Ballad of Sexual Dependency (2016–17), Pedro Almodovar (2016), Bruce LaBruce (2015), Wim Wenders (2015), The Berlin School: Films from the Berliner Schule (2013), Tim Burton (2010), and Mike Nichols (2009). For the Museum’s imprint, Roy authored (with Anke Leweke) The Berlin School: Films from the Berliner Schule (2013).
Roy is a member of the selection committee for New Directors/New Films, presented annually with Film at Lincoln Center. He has also served on juries for organizations such as the Sundance Film Festival, Berlin Film Festival, and the Film Independent Spirit Awards. In addition, he serves on the National Film Preservation Board and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences International Film Executive Committee, and he has lectured at events worldwide. he served as Director of Programming (2002–06) and Artistic Director (2006–07) for the Hamptons International Film Festival. From 2004 to 2008 he was the sole American member of the Competition Selection Committee of the Berlin International Film Festival.
From 1995 to 2002, Roy worked at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in the Film and Media Arts Program, collaborating with curators to coordinate film, video, and new media exhibitions in New York, Bilbao, and Berlin. Exhibitions included The Worlds of Nam June Paik (2000), Between Shadows and Light: Italian Cinematography (2001), and Drama Queens: Women Behind the Camera (2001). From 1996 to 2000, he was Executive Director of the MIX Festival, one of the world’s longest-running experimental film and video festivals. Roy graduated from the University of California, San Diego, in 1994 with a BA in political science and French literature. He has contributed to Empire, Frieze, indieWIRE, Moving Pictures, Turbulences Video, and other publications."
Event venue & nearby stays
Rizzoli Bookstore, 1133 Broadway, New York, United States
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