Almodóvar's film photography, recognized for the first time at the Goya through the work of Edu Grau in 'The Room Next Door'

Edu Grau becomes Pedro Almodóvar's first DOP to receive a Goya award in the Best Cinematography category. He does this for his work in 'The Room Next Door', a film shot in English but with a team full of Spanish talent.

The elegance, distance and emotion of The next room is transferred in a photograph by Edu Grau that helps convey the universe of cinematographic and plastic references of the filmmaker from La Mancha. An intricate visual map shot with the ARRI Alexa 35 y optics Panavision C-series anamorphic who is not afraid to play with technique to show flat details full of meaning and take advantage of a game of reflections to address the theme of death, a reference point of Almodóvar's last period.

Grau, quien reconoce haberse sentido nervioso antes de acometer el proyecto, estudió la fotografía de toda la trayectoria del director antes de acometer este rodaje: “Quería hacer una película que fuera homenaje a toda la carrera de Pedro, que es uno de los directores con un sentido visual más potente de la historia del cine”. Por ello, el director de fotografía comparte su galardón con “todos los que vinieron delante”, quienes “incomprensiblemente” no se llevaron los Goya a los que estaban nominados.

Durante los últimos años, Grau ha desarrollado ha desarrollado su carrera en la industria estadounidense, firmando películas como Superdetective en Hollywood: Axel F o Passing, and is a member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC). Possibly his letter of introduction was Buried with Rodrigo Cortés, a project from which he has grown “as a person and filmmaker.” "I have always tried to adapt to the directors, characters and stories. I have been learning with each film he has made," he acknowledges, anticipating a future in which he would like to return to making films in the country where he grew up and trained in the CHESS: "I haven't made a film in Spain for 7 years, and coming back with Pedro Almodóvar is going back in a big way. I want to make good films. I don't care if it's in Spain or not. I want to work with filmmakers who have something important to tell. Wherever that material is, I hope they call me so I can be there."

Access to the Goyas 2025 Special in Panorama