Barcelona-based studio Filmax, which has a string of new releases at the American Film Market including the survival thriller “Ballandrou,” the time-loop comedy thriller “Five More Minutes,” and the origin story of Spanish women’s soccer “Another League,” has secured worldwide sales rights outside of Spain for “A Son,” which will be entered in the Cairo Film Festival’s main international competition on November 15.
As previously announced, Filmax holds the Spanish distribution rights to A Son, which is expected to be released in Spanish cinemas in the first half of 2026.
“A Son” is a film adaptation of the illustrated novel “Un Hijo” by Barcelona author Alejandro Palomas, a Spanish publishing phenomenon that has been translated into more than 20 languages. Un Hijo also won Spain’s National Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award.
A Son, which has its world premiere in Cairo, also marks the live-action feature debut of Nacho La Casa, a Seville- and Madrid-based acclaimed writer, producer and director who co-wrote and directed the 2016 animated feature Ozzy.
Since then, La Casa is best known for producing two toon pictures: 2014’s “Superklaus” and this year’s “Norbert.” “A Son,” which he also co-wrote, remains in the world of children as subjects, not as audience members.
Co-written by Juan R. Apolo (When Brooklyn Met Seville), A Son begins when Maria, an inexperienced school psychologist, begins to suspect that something is wrong with Gil, an 8-year-old new student at her school. Giyu may simply look incredibly suspiciously happy, hiding a dramatic situation with potentially dire consequences. She is determined to decipher Giyu’s paintings and overcome her father’s fierce resistance to her investigation.
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Provided by Filmax
When the novel was published in 2016, Palomas said, “This book is not for a certain age. I had never read anything about ’emotional’ detectives in children. There is something wrong with Gil, and the problem is very deep.”
“This powerful film depicts fear, silence, and the fragile bond between a child and the only adult willing to listen to him, the school psychologist,” Filmax said in a statement.
“A Son” stars Macarena García (“La Messias,” “The House of Fire”), who has quickly emerged as one of the top actors of his generation, and Hugo Silva (“Love, Love”), who demonstrated his versatility in the hit Movistar Plus+ series “Marbella.”
“My favorite kind of movies are the ones that are emotional, and if there’s one quality that ‘Son’ has, it’s that,” La Casa said. “When I finished reading the novel, I knew I had to make it into a movie. ‘Son’ challenges us as adults, while at the same time reclaiming the innocence of childhood, which unfortunately is becoming increasingly endangered in our society.”
“This is a project we have been pursuing for a long time. We know how deeply moved so many people were by this novel, and our expectations for its film adaptation are very high,” added Ivan Diaz, Filmax’s head of international division. “The recent selection at the Cairo Film Festival is a great recognition and proves that this is a film that can move people around the world.”
“A Son” is produced by Capitán Araña and Guion Alto, La Casa’s Madrid and Seville label, and Veleta Films AIE. It is supported by the Spanish public broadcaster RTVE, the pay TV/SVOD dinar Movistar+, and the Andalusian national television Canal Sur, and supported by the EU Media Program with funding from the Regional Government of Andalusia, the Regional Government of Madrid, the Basque Country Council of Alaba, and the Spanish Credit Union (ICO).
