January – February, Ragtag Cinema celebrates the career of landmark Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar. 

Following the death of Spain’s fascist dictator Francisco Franco, the nation began to transition to democracy in the late 1970s. With it, a countercultural renaissance took root known as La Movida Madrileña. Here, Almodóvar began pushing the boundaries of polite society— embracing the music, art, and attitudes that embodied Spain’s new social and sexual freedoms. 

Transgressive, queer, melodramatic, comedic, and infinitely tender, Almodóvar’s films place women at the fore: as saints, mothers, sex workers, and independents. 

Spanning over forty years, the series features four repertory selections as well as the director’s newest effort.

WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN (on 35mm)

JAN 18 & 19 

Broken relationships, terrorists, and attempted suicide dress the set of Almodovar’s quintessential pitch-black ensemble comedy, marking the director’s first international recognition. 1988. 88 min.

PEPI, LUCI, BOM 

JAN 19 & 20 

The wild adventures of three friends: Pepi, an independent modern woman; Luci, a mousy, masochistic housewife; and Bom, a lesbian punk rock singer. This new digital restoration of the director’s first feature finds him at his most campy and deliciously chaotic. 1980. 82 min. 

VOLVER (on 35mm)

JAN 25 & 26 

Revolving around an eccentric family of women from the wind-swept south of Madrid, a working-class woman goes to great lengths to protect her 14-year-old daughter. To top off the family crisis, her mother returns from the dead to tie up loose ends. 2006. 121 min. 

PARALLEL MOTHERS 

OPENS JAN 28 

Two unmarried women who have become pregnant by accident and are about to give birth meet in a hospital room: Janis, middle-aged, unrepentant and happy; Ana, a teenager, remorseful and frightened. 2022. 120 min.

ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER (on 35mm)

FEB 3 

In Almodovar’s masterful melodrama, a single mother in Madrid sees her only son die on his birthday as he runs to seek an actress’ autograph. Beside herself with grief, she returns to Barcelona to tell the boy’s father about the death of the son he never knew he had. 1999. 101 min.