Pedro Almodóvar was born on September 24, 1949 in Calzada de Calatrava, Province of Ciudad Real, administrative district of Almagro and archbishopric of.

At the age of 8 years he emigrated with his family to Extremadura, which is another spanish province. There he studied and passed his first public examination in secondary school and finally took his school-leaving exam and university entrance qualification at a convent school of the Salesian Fathers and the Franciscan friars. His bad religious education only taught him to lose belief in God. In this epoch of his life he became adicted to the Movies.

When he was 16 years old he moved to Madrid alone, without his family and without money. He had only one concrete proyect: to study cinematic art and to make movies.

He was lucky that the premiere of his first commercial movie coincided with the birth of the spanish democracy. After one and a half years of daredevil shooting in 16 mm, in 1980 his first movie Pepi, Lucy, Bom... was shown for the very first time. From this moment on the cinematic art became his second nature. He wrote and directed. And he lived, enough for being able to invent new lively stories. His movies are now shown in the cinemas all over the world.

His other movies include Carne trémula (1997), All About My Mother (2000), Hable con ella (2002) and Volver (2006).

Almodóvar is openly gay and he has incorporated elements of underground and gay culture into mainstream forms with wide crossover appeal, thus redefining perceptions of Spanish cinema and Spain.

His next film, La Piel Que Habito, a movie about revenge, will be a new collaboration with his favorite actress of recent years, Penelope Cruz.

Director

• Volver (2006)
• Mala educación, La (2004)
• Hable con ella (2002)
• Todo sobre mi madre (1999)
• Carne trémula (1997)
• Flor de mi secreto, La (1995)
• Kika (1993)
• Tacones lejanos (1991)
• ¡Átame! (1990)
• Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (1988)
• Ley del deseo, La (1987)
• Matador (1986)
• Tráiler para amantes de lo prohibido (1985) (TV)
• ¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto!! (1984)
• Entre tinieblas (1983)
• Laberinto de pasiones (1982)
• Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas del montón (1980)
• Folle... folle... fólleme Tim! (1978)
• Salomé (1978)
• Sexo va, sexo viene (1977)
• Muerte en la carretera (1976)
• Sea caritativo (1976)
• Tráiler de 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' (1976)
• Blancor (1975)
• Caída de Sódoma, La (1975)
• Homenaje (1975)
• Sueño, o la estrella, El (1975)
• Dos putas, o historia de amor que termina en boda (1974)
• Film político (1974)

Awards

• Cannes Film Festival Best Screenplay "Volver" 2006
• BAFTA Best Screenplay (Original) "Talk To Her" 2002
• BAFTA Film not in the English Language "Talk To Her" 2002
• Los Angeles Film Critics Best Director "Talk To Her" 2002
• Oscar Best Screenplay (Original) "Talk To Her" 2002
• BAFTA Best Film Not in the English Language "All About My Mother" 2000
• BAFTA Best Achievement in Direction "All About My Mother" 2000
• Cesar Best Foreign Film "All About My Mother" 2000
• David di Donatello Prize Best Foreign Film "All About My Mother" 2000
• London Film Critics Circle Best Foreign Language Film "All About My Mother" 2000
• Boston Society of Film Critics Best Foreign Film "All About My Mother" 1999
• British Independent Film Award Best Foreign Independent Film "All About My Mother" 1999
• British Independent Film Award Best Foreign Independent Film - Foreign Language "All About My Mother" 1999
• Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Foreign Film "All About My Mother" 1999
• Cannes Film Festival Best Director "Todo Sobre Mi Madre/All About My Mother" 1999
• European Film Award European Film "All About My Mother" 1999
• European Film Award People's Choice for Best Director "All About My Mother" 1999
• FIPRESCI Grand Prize "Todo Sobre Mi Madre/All About My Mother" 1999
• Golden Globe Best Foreign-Language Film "All About My Mother" 1999
• Golden Satellite Best Foreign Language Film "All About My Mother" 1999
• Goya Best Director "All About My Mother" 1999
• Los Angeles Film Critics Best Foreign Film "All About My Mother" 1999
• Lumiere Best Foreign Film "All About My Mother" 1999
• National Board of Review Best Foreign Film "All About My Mother" 1999
• New York Film Critics Circle Best Foreign Language Film "All About My Mother" 1999
• Honorary Cesar 1998
• Cesar Best Foreign Language Film "High Heels" 1993
• Venice International Film Festival Prize Best Screenplay "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" 1988
• Los Angeles Film Critics New Generation "Law of Desire" 1987
• Rio Film Festival Best Director "Law of Desire" 1987
• Rio Film Festival Best Director "Law of Desire" 1987