“The creator, from their small platform, each from their own, must speak without mincing words,” said Almodovar at the Cannes Film Festival after the premiere of ​his tragicomedy “Bitter Christmas.”

“Silence and fear - because it is clearly an ​expression of fear - are a very bad sign; they ⁠are a sign of the erosion of democracy,” said the director ​considered a defining figure of contemporary European cinema.

“We are obliged to ​become a kind of shield against these monsters like Trump, Netanyahu or the Russian,” he said, referring to Israel’s prime minister and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Trump ​must know that there is a limit to all his ​delusions and madness, and that Europe will never bow down to Trump’s policies,” he ‌added.

The ⁠latest film from the director known for dark humour and melodrama stars Leonardo Sbaraglia as Raul, a filmmaker who starts borrowing details from the people in his life to write his new screenplay.

The ​story draws deeply ​from Almodovar’s ⁠own creative journey as a director, he told journalists.

Almodovar, who is competing for the festival’s Palme d’Or ​top prize for the sixth time, said that he ​would ⁠miss coming to Cannes once the day comes when he stops making films.

“But for now, I think I’m going to make one more ⁠film; I ​hope that I’ll continue to find ​the inspiration for more,” he said, adding that there will be more humour in ​the next one.