Ingrid (Julianne Moore) and Martha (Tilda Swinton) were close friends in their youth, when they worked together at the same magazine. Ingrid went on to become a writer while Martha became a war reporter for the New York Times. After years apart, they meet again when Ingrid learns that Martha is in the hospital fighting with cancer. As the two characters tackle the idea of death with an unblinking honesty, the film itself offers a catharsis of sorts, in part through the vibrant performances of the actors.
An adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’ What Are You Going Through, The Room Next Door is Pedro Almodóvar’s first English-language full feature drama and was awarded the Golden Lion at the 2024 Venice Film Festival.
The screening on 16 November will be followed by a Q&A with costume designer Bina Diageler & makeup artist Morag Ross, as part of Fashion & Cinema
Bina started her career as a costume designer in German cinema in the mid-eighties. Attracted by the vibrant Madrid scene and its creative explosion in that decade, she soon moved to Spain and has stayed there ever since, although her varied projects take her all around the world.
Her first work in Spain was for the iconic Airbag (Juanma Bajo Ulloa, 1997), a huge box office hit that broke commercial moulds in its day. She later worked with Pedro Almodóvar in All About My Mother (1999) and in Volver (2006), which together with Unconscious (Joaquín Oristrell, 2004) and Princesas (Fernando León de Aranoa, 2005), won her a total of four Goya Awards nominations for Best Costume Design.
Alongside her enormously fruitful and gratifying career in Spanish cinema, she has also worked on international projects, among which Disney’s Mulan (Niki Caro, 2020), film that won her her first Oscar nomination and as well as the Costume Designers Guild Award for Sci-Fi/Fantasy Excellence.
Other recent works include the TV shows Mrs. America (Dahvi Waller, 2020) and 1899 (Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese, 2022).
Todd Field’s TÁR is, after Manifesto (Julian Rosefeldt, 2015) and Mrs. America, her third collaboration with actress Cate Blanchett.
Morag was born in Glasgow, where she graduated from the Glasgow School of Art, before moving to London to train at the BBC Make-Up department.
She worked there for several years before embarking on a career as a freelance makeup designer in the film industry.
Over the past 25 years she has worked with many wonderful directors and actors including Martin Scorsese, Sofia Coppola, Julie Christie, Tilda Swindon, Jude Law, Amy Adams, Cate Blanchett & Julianne Moore.
Her aesthetic eye and skill brought her many diverse projects, from Art-House to Blockbuster movies, many with beauty looks as an integral part of the film.
She has won 2 international Make-Up awards and 3 BAFTA awards for best Make-Up , as well as having been a brand ambassador for SUQQU and a close working relationship with Armani Beauty.