Cabaldana Alchemy and Driven Equation are teaming to develop the feature version of Miguel Angel Caballero’s multiple award-winning short film “The Ballad of Tita and the Machines.” The project has been selected as part of the Frontières International Co-Production Market, running July 23-26 at the Fantasia Film Festival, with Caballero writing alongside Luis Antonio Aldana and the duo producing with Rafael Tomaseto.
“The Ballad of Tita and the Machines” takes place in a near future when AI humanoids are replacing human laborers. Titular strawberry picker Tita stands against the automation, enlisting a cleaning lady, construction worker and seamstress to fight back against the humanoids. What begins as a quiet rebellion erupts into a viral citywide strike, culminating in a daring heist. Together, these “working class Avengers” infiltrate the high-security robotics company behind the automation to pull off an impossible mission.
In his director’s statement, Caballero says that “as the son of Mexican immigrant farmworkers,” he grew up watching his parents work in California’s strawberry fields, “largely invisible yet essential to the very foundation of this country.” “This film reframes who we imagine when we talk about ‘the future,’ placing a 60-year-old queer Mexican woman at the heart of a genre that has long excluded people like her.”
“As AI reshapes our world, the workers most impacted remain unseen,” the director tells Variety. “This is a social sci-fi film where the hero isn’t a superhero or a tech mogul but a strawberry picker, centering immigrant laborers who helped build this country but are often rendered invisible. This film is unique but not niche, it’s a big-world, adventurous sci-fi film grounded in social justice and performances. Tita is not just a hero… She’s a movement.”
“Partnering with Driven Equation gives us a rare and beautiful opportunity: to create a sci-fi film crafted entirely by Latine voices,” echoes Aldana. “This is a deeply personal, timely film, grounded in the strength and resilience of our communities. Driven Equation shares our passion for telling high-quality, socially urgent stories. We truly couldn’t imagine better partners on this journey.”
Driven Equation’s Helana Sardinha says: “Ever since we shot the short, we’ve known our collaboration with Cabaldana Alchemy was something powerful. As immigrant filmmakers, Tita hits close to home: it’s personal, urgent and exactly the kind of story we’re committed to championing. We’re excited to grow this partnership and bring this film to the world.”
“The Ballad of Tita and the Machines” will be Caballero’s feature directorial debut, following several award-winning short films, including “Acuitzeramo,” which won best LGBTQ short at the American Pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival, and “Broken Sunflower Hearts.” The director is also the co-founder (alongside Aldana) of L.A.-based Cabaldana Alchemy, a company whose mission is to create working-class U.S. Latinx stories from an LGBTQ perspective.
Driven Equation is a production company based between Los Angeles and São Paulo, founded by Helena Sardinha and Rafael Thomaseto. They are dedicated to director-driven cinema with international reach, developing and producing narrative and documentary films that challenge convention, both creatively and structurally. Their work has been recognized at leading festivals and programs including Sundance, TIFF, Tribeca and SXSW.
Expectation Management’s Mitchell Bendersky rounds up the producing team as a development producer on the film, which is expected to shoot in the fall of 2026.