Almodovar then declined to answer any more questions about politics because he said he had addressed the topic completely.

Asked about the possibility of making an English-language crossover film, Almodovar said it was unlikely.

“For the last 14 years, I’ve been pushed to make films in the United States, but I haven’t yet given in,” Almodovar said. “Partly, it’s because the American studio system makes me nervous...there is a lack of independence and freedom. This is a production system where the director does not have the power in the artistic process.”

Almodovar called the process of writing a script a “very mysterious process.”

“It comes from all aspects of reality—my reality and the reality of others,” he said.

He said the death of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco led to a cultural revolution in Spain that coincided with his start in filmmaking.

“Those of us who never knew the shadow of dictatorship found ourselves in a veritable explosion in our lives,” he said.

Almodovar said after the final session that despite the chaotic beginning of the night, he was happy to have come.

“This has been a marvelous experience, almost cathartic at times,” he said. “Harvard is a great part of the world.”