Fresh from the Croisette as producers on the Jury Prize winner Oliver Laxe’s Sirât, Pedro Almodóvar is getting into the Yuletide spirit this June. WorldofReel did some digging and it looks like we are getting set for production this month with Spanish-speaking thesps Victoria Luengo and Patrick Criado. Bitter Christmas (fka Amarga Navidad) is a tragic comedy about a woman being abandoned by her partner during Christmas time. Filming is set for a Canary Islands backdrop.
Update: Variety reports that Bárbara Lennie, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Milena Smit and Quim Gutiérrez are also cast. And here is the official synopsis below:
Elsa is an advertising director whose mother dies during a long December holiday weekend. She throws herself into work as a form of escape, not realizing she’s denying herself the time to grieve. Her relentless pace is interrupted when a panic attack forces her to take a break. Her partner, Bonifacio, becomes her anchor in this moment of crisis. Elsa decides to travel to the island of Lanzarote with her friend Patricia, who is also looking to get away from Madrid, while Bonifacio stays behind in the city.
Sony Pictures Classics will likely continue their partnership with the filmmaker and while next year’s Cannes could be in the cards, I imagine Almodóvar might return to the lieu where he won the Golden Lion for his last film, The Room Next Door (read review).
