EXCLUSIVE: Panamanian director Arturo Montenegro is busy lining up his follow-up to feature directorial debut The Check (El Cheque) ahead of its world premiere at IFF Panama on Tuesday.

Montenegro’s in-the-works Male Mom is a timely drama about a man who will do whatever it takes to become a mother.

The project is styled as a PG-13 drama and has secured private Latin American backers. The film-maker is looking for additional capital investment ahead of a planned start in August.

Male Mom will shoot on location in Madrid and Panama City and stars Montenegro as Eliana, a man who is willing to transform his mind, soul and body to achieve his life’s desire.

Montenegro wrote the screenplay with Sandra I. Corrales and produces alongside Andry José Barrientos.

The Q Films production includes cast members Augusto Galíndez, Sócrates Serrano, Jirac Caro, Simón Tejeira, Guillermo García, and Natalia Londoño.

Tuesday’s premiere will be the first chance for audiences to see The Check (pictured), in which Montenegro plays a man who employs a larger-than-life maid.

The ensemble includes Nilka Denny, Rogelio Bustamante, Mónica Miguel, Diana Young Echeverría, Mercedes Londoño, Mara Bethancourt, Leo Wiznitzer, Ingrid Villarreal, Yamile Moral, Augusto Galíndez, and Juan Villareal.