At a gala held at the Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center (New York) last Monday, Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar did not hesitate to express his discontent with Trump at the 50th Chaplin Award ceremony. "Mr. Trump, I speak to you. You will not go down in history as the world's best governor. Your naivety is only comparable to your virus (...) You will go down in history as a catastrophe," stated the director, amidst a crowd that continuously applauded and cheered.
Almodovar admitted to having hesitated to attend the ceremony, arguing that the United States is governed by a "narcissistic authoritarian lunatic who does not respect Human Rights". In his words, the filmmaker rejected the president's discourse and his allies, whom he described as "millionaires and oligarchs", affirming that "they cannot convince us that the reality we see with our own eyes is the opposite of what we live".
In defense of various figures and groups, he declared that "immigrants are not criminals, Zelensky is not a dictator, Putin is, and it was Russia who invaded Ukraine". Additionally, Pedro Almodovar stated in his speech that "Hunter Schafer, the co-star of 'Euphoria' with Zendaya, is a woman even if her passport states she is male".
He publicly dedicated the recognition to "the thousands deported in recent weeks, to Hunter Schafer, as well as to Harvard University for their determination to not give up in Trump's war against knowledge and culture, which must continue to be a point of reference," affirmed the Spanish filmmaker.
The gala featured prominent personalities from the world of art and entertainment. Among them, the dancer and actor Mikhail Baryshnikov, the actress and Almodóvar's muse Rossy de Palma, the singer Dua Lipa, the actor John Turturro, and the filmmaker John Waters.