The 79th Cannes Film Festival has become a showcase for Spanish cinematic voices, with Pedro Almodovar's new film earning a standing ovation, a bold exploration of Federico García Lorca's queer identity competing for prizes, and a landmark restoration honouring the legacy of late Franco-era filmmaking.

Almodovar, the 76-year-old director behind internationally acclaimed films such as All About My Mother and Pain and Glory, used a press conference for his new film Bitter Christmas to deliver pointed remarks about political censorship and democratic backsliding. Wearing a "Free Palestine" pin on the red carpet, he argued that artists bear a "moral obligation" to speak out. "Silence and fear is a symptom that things are going badly," he said. "It's a serious sign democracy is crumbling." He criticised what he described as an atmosphere of growing fear among artists, referencing a controversy in France where Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada threatened to blacklist around 600 artists — including actress Juliette Binoche — who signed an open letter against the network's main shareholder, Vincent Bolloré. Almodovar also questioned the United States' democratic credentials under the current administration, remarks that drew applause. His film received a 6.5-minute standing ovation.

Also generating significant attention is La bola negra, directed by the Spanish duo known as Los Javis — Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi. The film explores the life, sexuality and inner world of Federico García Lorca, the celebrated Granada-born poet and playwright who was executed during the Spanish Civil War in 1936, widely believed to have been killed in part because he was gay. Told across three time periods — 1932, 1937 and 2017 — the film insists on the inseparability of Lorca's art from his intimate desires. "It is impossible to separate an author like Lorca from his intimate desires," the directors said. "Federico García Lorca is not an idea — he is a person who was murdered for being queer."

Rounding out Spain's strong presence at this year's festival, singer Jeanette performed live on Macé beach along the Croisette as part of a tribute screening of Carlos Saura's Cría Cuervos, marking 50 years since the film's 1976 release. The film, shot during the final months of Francisco Franco's four-decade dictatorship and widely regarded as a meditation on repression and collective memory, won the Grand Prix du Jury at Cannes in 1976 and remains one of the defining works of Spanish cinema. A new 4K restoration was presented as part of the Cannes Classics programme, with Jeanette — the voice behind the film's iconic song "Por qué te vas" — performing to hundreds of spectators seated on the beachfront.

Taken together, the three Spanish contributions this year reflect a consistent preoccupation with historical trauma, queer identity and the relationship between art and political courage — themes that resonate well beyond Spain's borders at a moment of widespread debate about censorship and democratic norms.