PRODUCTION / FUNDING Spain / Belgium
Patricia Ortega directing the biopic Caballé
- Begoña Alberdi and Ana Saavedra breathe life into the opera diva in the film, which is now at the editing stage, and is being produced by La Claqueta PC, Set Màgic Audiovisual and Amania Films
Caballé, a biopic on opera diva Montserrat Caballé (1933-2018), directed by Patricia Ortega, is toplined by Begoña Alberdi (an actress from series such as Barcelona, Neutral City as well as Night Function) and Ana Saavedra (giving her first performance in a feature), who play the great Catalonian singer at different stages in her life (the former as an adult artist, the latter during her teenage years).
The cast of this feature is rounded off by Núria Prims (Uncertain Glory [+see also:
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interview: Agustí Villaronga
film profile], seen recently in Forastera [+see also:
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film profile]), David Bages, Mercè Arànega, Marina Comas, Pep Pla, Pep Munné (appearing in the recent series Puberty – Secrets, Lies, and Human Castles) and Carles Francino (also in Puberty and now gracing Spanish movie-theatre screens in To the Max [+see also:
interview: Salvador Calvo
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With a screenplay penned by Marta Armengol and Marc González, Caballé tells the soprano’s story from her early days until her establishment as a huge star of world opera. The film alternates between two stages in her life: on one hand, her youth spent within a humble family, marked by the deprivation of post-war Spain and the pressure to be the last remaining hope for her loved ones; and, on the other, the pinnacle of her career in 1991, when, having already become a great diva, she performs in her native Barcelona.
Venezuelan-born, Spanish-based director Patricia Ortega presented her debut feature-length fiction film, Being Impossible, at the Seminci in 2018, where it won the Rainbow Spike Award, and it was subsequently selected as a shortlisted candidate for the 2020 Oscars, representing Venezuela. In 2023, she premiered her second fiction film, Mamacruz [+see also:
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film profile], toplined by Kiti Mánver, in Sundance’s World Cinema Dramatic Competition. And now, her third feature, 9 Lunas (see the news), which again stars Kiti Mánver, alongside María León, Jorge Sanz and Zack Gómez-Rolls, is set to be presented at the next edition of the Málaga Film Festival, in its official section, out of competition.
Caballé is a Spanish majority production staged by Olmo Figueredo González-Quevedo, Carlos Rosado Sibón and Sara Gómez for Seville-based firm La Claqueta PC, Oriol Marcos and Tiffany Ruoz for Set Màgic Audiovisual, Kevin Iglesias for Amania Films and No action capital AIE, in co-production with La Charito, EFD and Belgian outfit Menuetto Film. It has also secured sponsorship from Peris Costumes. The movie boasts the involvement of 3Cat, as well as support from ICEC, the ICAA and Creative Europe - MEDIA. Film Factory Entertainment is overseeing its international sales, while Filmax will release the film in Spanish theatres in the not-too-distant future.
(Translated from Spanish)
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