Almodovar to receive U.S. screenwriting award

Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar will receive the Writers Guild of America, West’s Jean Renoir Award for Screenwriting Achievement, the union said Wednesday in a statement.

The prize, conferred on “an international writer who has advanced the literature of motion pictures and made outstanding contributions to the profession of screenwriter,” will be handed out at the WGAW’s 2015 awards ceremony in Los Angeles on Feb. 14.

“Almodovar the first name is almost unnecessary is a genius, is a flower, is a guiding light: the last, best son of Buñuel and so much more than that,” WGAW Vice President Howard A. Rodman said.

“His screenplays, which he directs with passion and fine care, have taught us about the exteriors of his native land and the interiors of our own hearts,” Rodman added, praising Almodovar’s films as “deeply spiritual.”

The Jean Renoir Award, whose previous recipients include Italian screenwriter and actress Suso D’Amico (19142010), Italian poet, writer and screenwriter Tonino Guerra (19202012), and Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa (19101998), honors international screenwriters working outside the United States and in other languages.

The 65yearold Almodovar is currently in the running for an Oscar for best foreign language film for the SpanishArgentine coproduction “Relatos Salvajes” (Wild Tales), which is competing against Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski’s “Ida,” Russian filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev’s “Leviathan,” Georgian director Zaza Urushadze’s “Tangerines” (Estonia’s official entry), and Mauritanian filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako’s “Timbuktu.”

El Deseo, the film production company owned by Almodovar and his brother, Agustin, was one of the coproducers of the black comedydrama “Relatos Salvajes,” directed by Argentina’s Damian Szifron.

Almodovar known for his sexually charged melodramas, often featuring women in starring roles has directed a total of 19 films, capturing Oscars for two of them.

He won the Academy Award for best foreign language film in 1999 for “Todo sobre mi madre” (All About My Mother) and the 2002 Oscar for best original screenplay for “Hable con ella” (Talk to Her).