Animal rights protesters continue to dog Almodóvar's latest

British members of the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have called for a boycott of out director Pedro Almodóvar's new film Talk to Her, which opens Friday in the United Kingdom, according to The Hollywood Reporter, The group claims that "at least six bulls were tormented and killed" during the making of the film, which includes several bullfighting sequences. Pathé Distribution and production company El Deseo responded to the charges by saying that the sequence being questioned by protesters was shot at a regular training session of a novice bullfighter, with the actress's face superimposed through computer-generated imagery.

A spokesperson for the British Board of Film Classification, which gave the film a "15" certificate, said, "We looked at this film extremely carefully and had the makers send in all kinds of materials to establish that they had not set up bullfighting specifically for the film itself. We went through a lengthy period to establish that the filmmaking is legitimate, with the full cooperation of the makers, and found it to be fine." Pathé added that the training session was "conducted in accordance with all the requirements of the relevant local and regional government agencies in Spain, and all necessary permits and certificates were obtained by the production company."

Talk to Her will be released in the United States in November by Sony Pictures Classics.