El Diario has asked Pedro Almodóvar, as well as 55 other great Spanish filmmakers such as Alejandro Amenábar, Oliver Laxe, Carla Simón and Isabel Coixet, for a list of the best films of the 21st century. With everyone’s votes, the media has put together a top with the 25 most mentioned films. Here, the complete list.
In addition to sending his own list, Almodóvar has also been the only Spanish director to appear in the final top, with two mentions. The chosen ones were ‘Volver’ and ‘Hable con ella’, landing in positions 18 and 8 of the best films of the century, respectively.
Each filmmaker had to choose the 10 films that had had the most impact on them in this quarter of a century, with the director from La Mancha opting for modern masterpieces, such as ‘The Invisible Thread’ by Paul Thomas Anderson, ‘Call me by your name’ by Luca Guadagnino or ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ by Justine Triet. Nor have they lacked classics like ‘Ten’ by Abbas Kiarostami or ‘La ciénaga’ by Lucrecia Martel. ‘Sirat’, shortlisted for the Oscars in five categories, has also been included.
As for the final list of the best films of the 21st century, number one is occupied by David Lynch’s masterpiece, ‘Mulholland Drive’, released in 2001. The podium is completed by ‘In the Mood for Love’ (2003) by Wong Kar-Wai and ‘The Swamp’ (2001) by Lucrecia Martel.
El Diario has been publishing various lists to celebrate these last 25 years of culture. The best albums of the 21st century, chosen by 91 musical experts, including several members of the JENESAISPOP team, and the best books of the 21st century, chosen by 21 Spanish bookstores, have already been published.
The 10 best films of the century, according to Pedro Almodóvar
Ten (Abbas Kiarostami, 2002)
Call me by your name (Luca Guadagnino, 2017)
Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade, 2016)
The Invisible Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)
Love (Michael Haneke, 2012)
The swamp (Lucrecia Martel, 2001)
Sentimental value (Joachim Trier, 2025)
Drive my car (Ryūsuke Hamaguchi, 2021)
Anatomy of a fall (Justine Triet, 2023)
Sirat (Óliver Laxe, 2025)
