Michael Radford attached to direct Castro’s Daughter

The historical drama will tell the true story of Alina Fernandez, who was the product of a love affair between Fidel Castro and Cuban socialite Naty Revuelta and went on to reject her father’s regime, secretly fleeing Cuba in the early 1990s.

Oscar-winning filmmaker Bobby Moresco, who co-wrote Crash, is co-writing Castro’s Daughter with Pulitzer prize-winning author Nilo Cruz.

The project is being produced by Mankind’s John Torres Martinez and Joe Lamy who are also producing Lee Daniels’ project Anna In The Tropics, currently in development. Noel Tristan of Artists Relations Group serves as executive producer and WME is packaging the feature and will represent North American distribution rights.

“We see this as something along the lines of The King’s Speech, only rather than the king and his son, this covers the communist leader and his daughter,” Martinez told Screendaily.

Martinez said the project was likely to be a British co-production given the nationality of Radford and the fact that various UK and US-based companies are circling.

The producers are looking for a star-driven cast of Spanish and South American talent. Filming is expected to take place in Puerto Rico, where the project will take advantage of a 40% tax credit plus the recently announced additional 20% for non-residents.

Radford is best known for his Oscar winner Il Postino. His attachment to Castro’s Daughter was put together by Mankind and Sue Rodgers at Independent Talent in London.

Coach 14 previously handled international sales on the project and remains a consultant, however foreign sales rights are available.