Today was the long awaited debut of the 57th Cannes Opening Film, Pedro Almodóvar's new film Bad Education. Fele Martinez and Gael Garcia Bernal, tackle the subject of sexual child abuse, set at a religious school in the 1960's and the free Madrid of the 1980's, the Spanish Mystic River at Cannes this year. Almodóvar, Martinez and Garcia Bernal were all present at the press conference on opening day.

The gender bending Spanish director that has liberated film in his country after Franco explained that the film both was and wasn't about him. He denied it was an anti-clerical film, stating that "In Spain, the worst enemy of the Church is the Church itself". He described his fascination with the Catholic liturgy and in this film wanted to "make a gift of it for the actors so that they could take life from it." Garcia Bernal seemed to believe that its Almodóvar himself that gives life to his productions and said he enjoyed the freedom in working on the film with the director.

On being in Cannes, Almodóvar admitted, "I feel like I've got vertigo" and that presenting the opening film was a prize in itself.

Moira Sullivan