Pedro Almodovar has launched a blistering attack on Donald Trump

Almodovar, 75, said: "I doubted if it was appropriate to come to a country ruled by a narcissistic authority, who doesn't respect human rights.

"Trump and his friends, millionaires and oligarchs, cannot convince us that the reality we are seeing with our own eyes is the opposite of what we are living, however much he may twist the words, claiming that they mean the opposite of what they do. Immigrants are not criminals. It was Russia that invaded Ukraine."

The filmmaker - whose movie credits include 'Pain and Glory' and 'The Room Next Door' - continued: "Mr. Trump, I'm talking to you, and I hope that you hear what I'm going to say to you.

"You will go down in history as the greatest mistake of our time. Your naiveté is only comparable to your violence. You will go down in history as one of the greatest damages to humanity... You will go down in history as a catastrophe."

Pop star Dua Lipa was among the presenters of the accolade - having forged a close friendship with the filmmaker in recent years - and praised Almodovar's inclusive storytelling.

The 29-year-old singer said: "I love how you balance emotion and humour in your stories.

"I especially love how you just completely normalised trans and gay roles or storylines, something that feels these days like quite a radical act, and yet there's a lightness and a heart to everything you do."

Meanwhile, Karla Sofia Gascon - who became the first trans actor to be nominated for an Academy Award for her role in 'Emilia Perez' - recently revealed that she is hesitant about returning to the US because of the Trump administration's stance on trans rights.

She told The Hollywood Reporter: "If they want to discriminate against me because of my sexuality, then it will be very difficult.

"But I hope so. I'm looking forward to doing millions of things in the United States because I think it's a wonderful country full of something that we have all wished for in this world, which is freedom, and we are losing it. We are losing it."