Pedro Almodóvar says filmmakers have a ‘moral responsibility’ to speak out against far-right rights | Cannes Film Festival

Pedro Almodóvar has said that filmmakers have a “moral responsibility” to talk about politics or they will cause the blocking of free speech to happen in the US, warning that “Europe must not submit to Trump”.

Speaking at the Cannes premiere of his new film A bitter ChristmasThe former Spanish director was responding to questions about previous comments he made about the lack of protests at the Oscars earlier this year.

“I don’t want to judge anyone, but I think artists should talk about how they live in today’s society,” said the 76-year-old writer, wearing a Free Palestine badge on his jacket. “It’s a moral obligation.”

With far-right parties leading the way in elections in France, Germany and the UK, there are concerns that the kind of austerity that Almodóvar opposes could also happen on the continent.

In the midst of Cannes, reports broke of the head of France’s biggest film producer, Canal+, scare actors who signed the petition against the main shareholder, the qualified businessman Vincent Bolloré.

“Silence and fear is a sign that things are not going well, it is a big sign that democracy is collapsing,” the Spanish official said. “In Europe we have laws (…) we have to act as a shield against this madness.”

In preparation for Cannes, he told the Los Angeles Times that “there weren’t many anti-war or anti-Trump protests” at this year’s Oscars. The only negative note at the Academy Awards, he said, was that of his friend and Spaniard Javier Bardem, who said “No to war and free Palestine” on stage.

A Bitter Christmas, Almodóvar’s first Spanish-language film in five years, is the seventh in the main competition at Cannes. Although he is one of the most respected directors in Europe, the Palme d’Or has so far eluded him, although he won the main one for All About My Mother in 1999 and the best show for Volver in 2006.

Described by Guardian film critic Peter Bradshaw as “video auto-metafiction“, A Bitter Christmas tells the story of a film director who fears that his well of creative ideas has run out, and questions himself about the right of an artist to vampirize the problems of his friends.

Despite mixed reviews, the film received nine minutes of attention during its first screening on Tuesday.