Pedro Almodóvar is ready to party with the best of ’em. The legendary auteur will be honored with the 50th Chaplin Award during a gala evening at Lincoln Center on April 28, as previously announced. Yet it’s the who’s who of eclectic presenters that has us abuzz today: IndieWire can confirm that Dua Lipa, John Waters, Almodóvar’s “The Room Next Door” star John Turturro, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and long-time Almodóvar muse Rossy de Palma will be on hand to toast to the internationally acclaimed Spanish filmmaker.
The Chaplin Award Tribute will feature excerpts from a selection of the beloved director’s work, appearances by actors, friends, and colleagues, and the presentation of the award itself. The 50th Chaplin Award Gala, presented in partnership with Rolex, will take place at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall. The annual gala is the premier fundraiser for Film at Lincoln Center, with proceeds benefiting the nonprofit’s wide-ranging programs, including film series, educational initiatives, and prestigious festivals like the New York Film Festival and New Directors/New Films.
Almodóvar has had a long-standing relationship with FLC since the New Directors/New Films screenings of “What Have I Done to Deserve This?” in 1985 and “Law of Desire” in 1987. Almodóvar made his NYFF debut in 1988 with “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” (NYFF26) as the Opening Night selection, and again opened NYFF in 1999 with “All About My Mother” (NYFF37). His NYFF Closing Night selection films include “Live Flesh” (NYFF35), “Talk to Her” (NYFF40), “Broken Embraces” (NYFF47), and “Parallel Mothers” (NYFF59). Almodóvar’s most recent feature (and English-language debut), “The Room Next Door,” marked his 15th NYFF selection, of which a record-setting nine titles have been gala presentations. “The Room Next Door” was a Centerpiece feature.
“Pedro burst into our lives in 1985 with the premiere of his irreverent and darkly humorous film ‘What Have I Done to Deserve This?’ at New Directors/New Films. I hosted a suitably spirited party in my apartment that night, and it was then that I fell in love,” Wendy Keys, secretary of the Film at Lincoln Center Board of Directors, said in an official statement. “Over the years, he has had 15 films in the New York Film Festival and also helped launch the Walter Reade Theater with a raucous screening of ‘High Heels’ in 1991. We all adore his lively characters, gorgeous palette, and mischievous sense of fun, but his films also affirm his profound love for women and a deep understanding of the human condition. We could not be happier to name Pedro as the recipient of the 50th Chaplin Award.”
Fans can purchase tribute-only tickets for the Chaplin Award Gala, ranging in price from $80 to $500. Premium seating at the Chaplin Award Gala Tribute is available by purchasing Gala Dinner and Tribute tickets. All proceeds from the Chaplin Award Gala benefit Film at Lincoln Center’s programs and activities as a nonprofit organization.
The Chaplin Award has been bestowed upon legendary actors and filmmakers such as Jeff Bridges, Viola Davis, Robert De Niro, Barbara Streisand, Sidney Poitier, Michael Caine, Audrey Hepburn, Robert Altman, Billy Wilder, and Elizabeth Taylor.
Film at Lincoln Center gives special thanks to the 50th Chaplin Award Gala Co-Chairs Imelda and Peter Sobiloff and Nanna and Dan Stern; and Vice Chairs Susannah Gray and John Lyons, Tara Kelleher and Roy Zuckerberg, Wendy Keys, and Ronnie Planalp.
