Penélope Cruz, Aitana Sánchez Gijón and Milena Smit, protagonists of 'Parallel Mothers', by Pedro Almodóvar

Pedro Almodóvar and Penélope Cruz, at the Cannes 2019 presentation of 'Pain and Glory' Daniele Venturelli / WireImage

Penélope Cruz, Aitana Sánchez Gijón and Milena Smit.

This is the trio of actresses that Pedro Almodóvar will rely on to play the protagonists of

, his new film, which will begin shooting at the end of March.

The first two do not need much introduction, and Cruz has already shot with the filmmaker on six previous occasions.

Sánchez Gijón, for his part, has been combining television and theater in recent years;

Since 2014 she has only participated in two feature films,

and

although it is one of the most popular actresses and considered among the public, critics and colleagues.

Milena Smit made her film debut last year with

by David Victori, in which he played the girl who led the character of Mario Casas to perdition.

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• Almodóvar will shoot with Penélope Cruz his new script 'Parallel Mothers'

In the press release that accompanied the announcement, Pedro Almodóvar writes: “With

I return to the female universe, to motherhood, to the family.

I speak of the importance of ancestors and descendants.

The inevitable presence of memory.

There are many mothers in my filmography, the ones that are part of this story are very different.

As a storyteller, imperfect mothers inspire me most at this time.

Penélope Cruz, Aitana Sánchez Gijón and the young Milena Smit will play the three mothers in the film, accompanied by Israel Elejalde in the main male character.

I also have the collaboration of my beloved Julieta Serrano and Rossy de Palma.

will be a drama, intense.

Or so I hope ”.

It

is known that part of

will be filmed in Madrid and part in Castilla-La Mancha, because in November the Governing Council of that autonomous community approved a grant of 25,000 euros.

The drama focuses on the lives of two women who give birth on the same day and who have very similar life paths.

The script was written by Almodóvar during confinement, when due to the pandemic he had to temporarily abandon the adaptation

of Lucia Berlin's

.

During this time, Almodóvar also shot and premiered the medium-length film

his adaptation of Jean Cocteau's monologue starring Tilda Swinton.

Cocteau's text was almost a pretext for a story of "confusion and revenge," a confessional exercise "freed from ties;

in fact, the short is about being myself at the top ”, he assured in an interview in

magazine

about a film that premiered in Spain on October 21 on 111 screens.