Penélope Cruz will be honored at the Museum of Modern Art’s 2021 Film Benefit.
The event, presented by Chanel, will return as an in-person gala on Dec. 14 at the New York City museum.
“Penélope Cruz has mesmerized cinema audiences since 1992 as an artist who is as compelling in action-adventures as she is in auteur-driven pictures,” Rajendra Roy, the Celeste Bartos Chief Curator of Film at MoMA, said in a statement Tuesday. “Perhaps most beloved for her collaborations with Pedro Almodóvar, her smashing performance in his film ‘Parallel Mothers’ cements her status as an artist of global stature. The first Spanish actress to be nominated for and win an Academy Award, Penélope Cruz is truly in a category all her own.”
Programing for the 14th annual Film Benefit will include screenings of Cruz movies, including “Everybody Knows,” “Volver,” and “Blow,” from Nov. 19-30.
Cruz’s newest collaboration with Almodóvar, “Parallel Mothers,” will be released on Dec. 24. The movie received a nine-minute standing ovation at its opening-night world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. The cast also includes Milena Smit and features Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Israel Elejalde, Julieta Serrano and Rossy de Palma.
The film will be screened on Dec. 15 at MoMA as part of its annual The Contenders series.
Previous MoMA Film Benefit honorees include George Clooney, Laura Dern, Martin Scorsese, Julianne Moore, Tom Hanks, Cate Blanchett, Alfonso Cuarón, Tilda Swinton, Quentin Tarantino, Almodóvar, Kathryn Bigelow, Tim Burton and Baz Luhrmann.
Chanel has been a sponsor of the festivities since 2011.