Rodrigo Sorogoyen has secured Javier Bardem to star in his upcoming feature El Ser Querida (literally, The Loved One), which will start shooting in January 2025.

Vicky Luengo, whose credits include Riot Police and The Room Next Door, will co-star in the film about the relationship between an acclaimed film director and his daughter, a struggling actress. They share a difficult past that neither wants to discuss. Until they shoot a film together after years of estrangement.

El Ser Querido is being produced by Spain’s Caballo Films and France’s Le Pacte, with backing from Movistar Plus+. A Contracorriente Films will release the film theatrically in France with Goodfellas handling sales.

Bardem revealed the news during a press conference at the San Sebastian International Film Festival on Friday (September 20) to receive an honorary award from the festival. Bardem was meant to receive the award last year but could not attend the festival to pick it up because of the US actors’ strike.

El Ser Querido is part of the expansion of Movistar Plus+ into film production. The Spanish streaming platform has also backed Iciar Bollaín’s I’m Nevenka, premiering in competition in San Sebastian, Alberto Rodríguez’s Los Tigres, and upcoming projects by Oliver Laxe and Alauda Ruiz de Azúa.