Almodóvar Blasts Trump at Chaplin Award Ceremony

Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar sharply criticized former U.S. President Donald Trump while accepting the Chaplin Award at Film at Lincoln Center in New York, describing Trump as 'the greatest mistake of our time' and 'a catastrophe.' Almodóvar drew parallels between Trump's leadership and the authoritarianism of Franco's Spain, condemned Trump’s denial of reality regarding immigration and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and highlighted his negative impact on transgender rights, specifically citing actress Hunter Schafer. He dedicated the award to deportees, Schafer, and Harvard University for their resistance to Trump's 'war on knowledge and culture.' The event included tributes from Dua Lipa, John Turturro, John Waters, and Mikhail Baryshnikov, recognizing Almodóvar's influence on LGBTQ representation in cinema. Almodóvar also remarked on the significance of Spain's democratic transition to his career. He addressed a major power outage affecting Spain during his speech.