The film Volver, directed by Pedro Almodóvar, will receive the FIPRESCI Grand Prix for the Best Film of the Year at San Sebastian International Film Festival. This Grand Prix, awarded each year by the International Federation of Film Critics, means recognition from film critics in over 60 countries. More than 350 critics from all over the world have voted for a film released between July 2005 and July 2006.

The producer of Volver, Agustín Almodóvar, will collect the FIPRESCI Grand Prix on the 21st of September in the Kursaal at the opening gala of the 54th San Sebastian International Film Festival.

The award, presented each year since 1999 at the San Sebastian Festival and created to highlight the overall artistic value of a film, will be awarded for the second time to a film by Pedro Almodóvar, undoubtedly one of the most innovating moviemakers with one of the wealthiest and most original personal universes in contemporary cinema. In its first year, the Grand Prix was awarded to Todo sobre mi madre, and today it is Volver that the international critics have chosen.

Volver, premiered in Spain on March 17th, has been a smash hit with audiences and critics alike, and was one of the most applauded films at the last Cannes Festival Official Selection, where it earned the Best Actress prize for all of the six actresses in the cast: Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Blanca Portillo, Yohana Cobo and Chus Lampreave.

Pedro Almodóvar is in the middle of promoting the film in the USA, where it will be released on November 3rd. Prior to its release, and by way of promoting it for next year’s Academy Awards, eight of his films will be re-released in the USA in new copies in a retrospective entitled ¡Viva Pedro!