Almodovar's upcoming film, starring Penelope Cruz, embroiled in controversy

An image of a poster for Oscar-winning Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar's new film was briefly removed from Instagram, sparking controversy.

"You should be ashamed of yourselves, Instagram," Spanish designer Javier Jaen who created the poster wrote in a post on the image-centric social network.

He accompanied the text with a screen grab of a message he received from Instagram on Monday stating that the image had been taken down because it violated the network's rules.

"As expected @Instagram has removed the poster which we made for the latest Almodovar film. I have posted it again. Thanks for sharing it," added Jaen, who has nearly 76,000 followers on the social network where the new post remained visible on Tuesday.

A robust online debate saw some defending the image as artistic while others said it was "too explicit".

Instagram, which belongs to Facebook, is regularly accused of being overzealous in removing pictures involving nudity.

Contacted by AFP, Almodovar's production company declined to comment.

Starring one of Almodovar's favourite actresses, Penelope Cruz, Parallel Mothers will open this year's Venice film festival, which runs September 1-11.

Cruz plays one of two women, a generation apart, who find themselves inextricably linked by their brief time together in a maternity ward.