My favourite film of 1999 is Pedro Almodovar's lovingly crafted melodrama, All About My Mother, which continues to play at the Screen in Dublin. The most mature and sensitive film to date from the Spanish director, it is all about women and their stoicism and tenacity as they struggle to cope with the complexities and upheavals of their lives, and the roles they play in order to survive. An entrancing experience which draws its characters with great affection and compassion, it is superbly performed by an impeccable cast led by Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes, Penelope Cruz (right), Antonia San Juan and Eloy Azorin. Almodovar won the best director at Cannes for this.