MADRID, Spain (AP) - Animal rights activists have filed a complaint against director Pedro Almodovar and his production company for killing four bulls in the shooting of his new film "Talk to Her."

The complaint, filed before the Madrid regional environmental department, argues that Almodovar and his production company, El Deseo, violated an animal protection law under which any film scene purporting to show cruelty to, mistreatment of, or suffering by animals must be mock, not the real thing.

"Talk to Her" features Spanish singer Rosario Flores playing a female bullfighter.

El Deseo confirmed Monday that on June 25-26, Almodovar shot a scene in which four bulls were killed in the bullring of Aranjuez, a town near Madrid. The company insisted it had obtained all the necessary permits.

"When we bought the bulls we never denied that it was for shooting a film. We haven't done anything illegal," said Paz Sufrategui, a spokeswoman for El Deseo.

She said a pupil from a Madrid bullfighting school was hired for the bullfight scenes.

"The bullfight was conducted in the least painful way possible," Sufrategui added.

But animal rights activists have questioned that version.

"Some people close to the shooting told us that an inexperienced bullfighter had made a slaughter with those animals to shoot the scene of the film," Matilde Cubillo, president of Animal Amnesty in Madrid, the association that filed the complaint, told the state news agency EFE.

Almodovar could face a fine of between $1,350 and $13,513.

He directed the Oscar-winning film "All About My Mother."