Marisa Paredes

The Devil's Backbone -- His father killed in the brutal fighting of the Spanish Civil War, ten-year-old Carlos is sent to live at the desolate Santa Lucia School, now a makeshift shelter for war orphans. Soon after his arrival, Carlos has a series of seemingly supernatural encounters: strange shadows, voices and, most frightening of all, the apparition of a brutalized young boy. Turns out that Carlos is not alone in seei

All About My Mother -- Young Esteban want to become a writer and also to discover the identity of his father, carefully concealed by the mother Manuela.

His father killed in the brutal fighting of the Spanish Civil War, ten-year-old Carlos is sent to live at the desolate Santa Lucia School, now a makeshift shelter for war orphans. Soon after his arrival, Carlos has a series of seemingly supernatural encounters: strange shadows, voices and, most frightening of all, the apparition of a brutalized young boy. Turns out that Carlos is not alone in seeing these strange phenomena, many other children have experienced the "One Who Sighs," as the entity has come to be called. A classic ghost story, haunting as it is moving, "The Devil's Backbone" is also a subtle allegory for the war that rages on just beyond the school's walls.

"The Flower of My Secret" is the new film from Pedro Almodovar, Spanish director of such avant garde hits as "Women On the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" and High Heels. Leo (Marisa Paredes) is a bestselling author of romantic fiction, but has been writing under a pseudonym name for years. Now in the middle of her life, Leo has reached a creative and emotional crisis. Tired of producing popular fiction when her heart yearns to write truly great literature, her very success has become a burden to her; unable to accept that her marriage to Paco (Imanol Arias) is rapidly disintegrating, Leo finds herself at a crossroads in her life. Even Leo's mother and sister can offer no consolation as they constantly bicker with one another. The one ray of hope in Leo's life comes from Angel (Juan Echanove), the editor of the newspaper El Pais, who offers her a job as a critic for a national arts supplement. Leo's first assignment brings her face to face with her alter-ego causing an examination of her true identity, her deepest motivations and, most importantly, the direction of her life after Paco.

His father killed in the brutal fighting of the Spanish Civil War, ten-year-old Carlos is sent to live at the desolate Santa Lucia School, now a makeshift shelter for war orphans. Soon after his arrival, Carlos has a series of seemingly supernatural encounters: strange shadows, voices and, most frightening of all, the apparition of a brutalized young boy. Turns out that Carlos is not alone in seei

His father killed in the brutal fighting of the Spanish Civil War, ten-year-old Carlos is sent to live at the desolate Santa Lucia School, now a makeshift shelter for war orphans. Soon after his arrival, Carlos has a series of seemingly supernatural encounters: strange shadows, voices and, most frightening of all, the apparition of a brutalized young boy. Turns out that Carlos is not alone in seeing these strange phenomena - many other children have experienced the "One Who Sighs," as the entity has come to be called. A classic ghost story, as haunting as it is moving, THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE is also a subtle allegory for the war that rages on just beyond the school's walls.

Pedro Almodovar is at the top of his game with "All About My Mother," a poignant, at times comedic examination of women in intimate relationships. "All About My Mother" visits themes of female vulnerability and solidarity, but in a new and profoundly mature way. Cecilia Roth plays strong-willed hospital worker Manuela, whose 18-year-old son's accidental death transforms her life. Reading her son's journals, grief-stricken Manuela realizes that he longed to hear about the father he never knew. Forsaking Madrid for Barcelona, she embarks on a search for the man she left almost 20 years before.

Pedro Almodovar's Oscar(r)-winning comedy (Best Foreign Film, 1999) about a bereaved mother, an overwrought actress, her jealous lover and a pregnant nun.

ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER is a poignant, at times comedic examination of women in intimate relationships. The film visits themes of female vulnerability and solidarity, but in a new and profoundly mature way. Cecilia Roth plays strong-willed hospital worker Manuela, whose 18-year-old son's accidental death transforms her life. Reading her son's journals, grief-stricken Manuela realizes that he longed to hear about the father he never knew. Forsaking Madrid for Barcelona, she embarks on a search for the man she left almost 20 years before.

As the Spanish Civil War rages on, passions also ignite between Irish governess Mary Lavelle (Polly Walker) and her employer's married son, Francisco Areavaga (Vincent Perez), who, against his relatives' wishes, rails openly against the president, General Franco. Should Mary continue her affair -- the ultimate act of disloyalty to a family that trusts her -- or go home to face a failed engagement? Co-stars Penelope Cruz and Frances McDormand.

In this alternately macabre and mirthful thriller, based on a true-crime story, renowned Mexican director Arturo Ripstein brings a stylish audacity to the tale of the "Lonely Hearts Killers," a couple who, in the 1940s, posed as brother and sister to lure and murder unsuspecting widows. Featuring performances both sympathetic and stomach-churning by Regina Orozco and Daniel Gimenez Cacho, DEEP CRIMSON (PROFUNDO CARMESI) is a wild update of the same events that inspired Leonard Kastle's The Honeymoon Killers.

A best-selling author struggles to keep her head above water in the face of a crumbling marriage. Incapable of delivering the rosy pulp required by her contract, she pens a dark tale that is deemed unpublishable until the novel is stolen from her trash and sold, becoming the basis of a major feature film.