Spanish director to receive European Achievement in World Cinema Award.

The European Film Academy (EFA) is to present director Pedro Almodóvar with the honorary award European Achievement in World Cinema Award for his outstanding body of work.

Almodóvar said: “I am very thankful for this award. From its creation, the European Film Academy has been very generous with me and my closest collaborators. I share with them the joy of this award.”

The background of the Spanish director was in independent theatre, Super-8-film making and underground magazines in the 1970s. After 18 months shooting on 16mm, in 1980 he opened Peip, Luci, Bom, a low-budget film made up of newcomers, except for actress Carmen Maura.

In 1986, he founded production company El Deseo S.A. with his brother Agustin. Their first project was Law of Desire. Since then, they have produced all the films that Almodóvar has written and directed, and have also produced other young directors.

In 1988, Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown brought him international recognition and the Best Young Film award at the first European Film Awards.

He has gone on to direct features including Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990); Live Flesh (1997); All About My Mother (1999); Talk to Her (2002); Bad Education (2004); Volver (2006); The Skin I Live In (2011); and I’m So Excited! (2013).

Almodóvar will be an honorary guest at the 26th European Film Awards Ceremony on Dec 7 in Berlin.

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