Pedro Almodóvar has been honored as the recipient of the Writers Guild of America West's Jean Renoir Award for Screenwriting Achievement.

The award is bestowed to an international writer "who has advanced the language of films and who has made outstanding contributions to screenwriting in languages other than English," according to Fox News Latino.

The Spanish filmmaker was unable to attend the gala held on Saturday, February 14, due to the pre-production of his new film "Silencio," Fox News Latino reported. The director, however, expressed his gratitude in a video sent from the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza hotel in Los Angeles.

"Almodóvar - the first name is almost unnecessary - is a genius, is a flower, is a guiding light: the last, best son of Buñuel and so much more than that. His screenplays, which he directs with passion and fine care, have taught us about the exteriors of his native land and the interiors of our own hearts," WGAW vice president Howard Rodman said in a statement, as quoted by the news outlet.

Almodóvar hopes to win an Academy Award for best foreign language film for "Wild Stories," which the director co-produced with his brother Agustin with Argentina's Kramer & Sigman Films, Fox News Latino added. The movie will compete against Pawel Pawlikowski's "Ida," Andrey Zvyagintsev's "Leviathan," Zaza Urushadze's "Tangerines," and Anderrahmane Sissako's "Timbuctu."

For the full list of nominees and winners of the WGA Awards 2015, check this out.

Almodóvar's Upcoming Drama 'Silencio'

Almodóvar's next film is set to begin shooting in April, according to The Hollywood Reporter. As the filmmaker told Financial Times, "Silencio" will focus on the core element of great women protagonists.

"It's a return to the cinema of women, of great female protagonists, and it's a hard-hitting drama, which excites me. It's called 'Silencio' because that's the principal element that drives the worst things that happen to the main female protagonist," Almodóvar told Financial Times.

He added, "I'd love to make another film like 'Women on the Verge' but I haven't managed it. Looking back on the film, it's a fictional comedy but, over time, it seems to absolutely represent the 1980s in Spain, the era in which it was made. Without me having intended it, it captures the tolerance of the time, the joy of living at that time."

The Spanish director was also behind the horror film "The Skin I Live In" and the comedy "I'm So Excited!" He also won the best foreign-language film Oscar for 1999's "All About My Mother" and the original screenplay Oscar for 2002's "Talk to Her," The Hollywood Reporter noted.