Cairo Festival Competition Title ‘A Son’, Starring Macarena García, Swooped on by Filmax for World Sales (EXCLUSIVE)

The live-action directorial debut of respected producer Nacho la Casa, ‘A Son’ toplines Macarena García, a standout in Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo’s ‘La Mesías’

Barcelona-based studio Filmax, behind a brace of new titles at the American Film Market – survival thriller “Balandrau,” time loop comedy-thriller “Five More Minutes,” Spanish women’s soccer origins tale “Another League” – has secured world sales rights outside Spain to “A Son” which bows Nov. 15 in main International Competition at the Cairo Film Festival.

As already announced, Filmax has domestic distribution rights to “A Son” in Spain and will release it in Spanish cinema theaters during the first half of 2026. 

“A Son” adapts a Spanish publishing phenomenon, Barcelona writer Alejandro Palomas’ illustrated novel “Un Hijo,” translated into over 20 languages. “Un Hijo” also won Spain’s National Prize for Children’s and Young Adult’s Literature.

A world premiere at Cairo, “A Son” also marks the live action feature debut of well-respected Seville and Madrid-based writer-producer-director Nacho la Casa, who co-penned and directed 2016 animated feature “Ozzy.” 

La Casa is best known afterwards for producing two more toon pics, 2014’s “Superklaus” and this year’s “Norbert.” “A Son,” which he also co-wrote, remains in the world of children, not as a target audience but rather as its subject. 

Co-written by Juan R. Apolo (“When Brooklyn Met Seville”), “A Son” kicks off when María, an inexperienced school psychologist, begins to suspect that something is very wrong with Guille, 8, new to the school, who seems simply immensely and suspiciously happy, hiding maybe a dramatic situation with potentially terrible consequences. She determines to decipher Guille’s drawings, as well as overcome his father’s aggressive resistance to any investigation.

“The book is for no specific age. I had’t read anything about an ‘emotional’ detective of children. Something’s wrong with Guille and what’s wrong is very deep,” Palomas said when the novel appeared in 2016. 

“This powerful film explores fear, silence and the fragile bond established between a child and the only adult who dares to listen to him, the school psychologist,” Filmax said in a statement.  

“A Son” stars Macarena García (“La Mesías,” “House on Fire”), fast emerging as one of the top actors of her generation, and Hugo Silva (“Un amor”) who demonstrated his range in Movistar Plus+ hit series “Marbella.”

“My favourite kinds of films are those that stir up your emotions, and if there’s one quality that ‘A Son’ has, it is precisely that,” said La Casa. “When I finished reading the novel, I knew I had to make it into a film. ‘A Son’ challenges us as grownups, as well as taking us back to that innocence of when we were children. A childhood that is, unfortunately, becoming increasingly endangered in our society.”

“This is a project we’ve been following for a long time. We know how deeply so many people were touched by the novel and the expectation around its film adaptation is huge,” added Ivan Díaz, Filmax head of international. “Its recent selection at the Cairo Film Festival is a wonderful recognition and proves that it is a film capable of moving people around the world over.”

“A Son” is produced by Capitán Araña and Guion Alto, La Casa’s  Madrid and Seville labels, as well as Veleta Films AIE. It is backed by Spanish public broadcaster RTVE, pay TV/SVOD dinar Movistar+ and Andalusian state TV Canal Sur, and supported by the Andalusian Regional Government, the Madrid regional government, the Provincial Council of Álava in the Basque Country and the E.U. Media Program, receiving funding from Spain’s Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO).