Pedro Almodovar to be celebrated by Academy

Pedro Almodovar is being honored again, and this time, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in London.

The event will feature a conversation with Almodovar and discussions with friends, colleagues and family members including Agustin Almodovar, filmmaker Stephen Frears, fashion guru Jean-Paul Gaultier, composer Alberto Iglesias and scriptwriter Peter Morgan.

Almodovar’s most recent film was The Skin I Live In, which grossed about $22 million worldwide and was released by Sony Pictures Classics in the U.S., where it grossed about $3.2 million.

His next film will be called Los Amantes Pasajeros (Standby Lovers) with Paz Vega as part of the cast. The Spanish movie, which Almodovar also wrote, follows a group of travelers who are placed in life-threatening situation aboard a plane flying to Mexico City. The passengers are defenseless in the face of danger, which provokes colorful confessionals that are their way to put out of mind the possibility they might be about to die.

Along with Vega, the movie stars Javier Camara (Talk to Her), Cecilia Roth (All About My Mother) and Lola Duenas (Volver). Spanish comedians Carlos Areces, Raul Arevalo and Jose Maria Yazpik are also in the cast.

Agustin Almodovar, the director’s brother, is producing the film. It is expected to shoot in Madrid this summer and will be released in spring 2013 by production company El Deseo.