Sex, Love and War: How the Racy Gay Epic ‘La Bola Negra’ Could Win Netflix’s First Best Picture Oscar — SkimNews
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- La Bola Negra, directed by Los Javis (Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi), became the first non-English-language film since 2011 to win the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, cementing it as the awards-season dark horse positioned to challenge 'The Odyssey.'
- Netflix is giving the film an unprecedented 47-day theatrical release beginning Oct. 16, the streamer's longest theatrical commitment to date for an awards contender.
- The film earned a 20-minute standing ovation at Cannes, won a shared best director prize, and was acquired by Netflix on the festival's final day; it was shot in 35mm.
- Guitarricadelafuente and Miguel Bernardeau, both 29-year-old Spaniards, star as a reluctant soldier and the prisoner of war he guards during the Spanish Civil War; Penélope Cruz plays a lounge singer in a 'dazzling' central scene and Glenn Close appears in a brief cameo as an academic.
- Producer Pedro Almodóvar personally questioned whether singer Guitarricadelafuente could bring edge beyond niceness, asking: 'Is he gonna avoid just being, like … nice?'
- Los Javis previously created HBO Max series 'Veneno' about trans singer Cristina Ortiz Rodríguez and are judges on 'Drag Race España'; they broke up romantically during the shoot but remain creative partners.
- Javier Calvo framed casting the out gay Guitarricadelafuente as political, saying: 'People tend to hire straight stars because they don't want to risk money, which I think is homophobic.'
Why it matters: Netflix has collected Oscars for Jane Campion, Alfonso Cuarón, and Guillermo del Toro but never Best Picture — 'La Bola Negra,' backed by the streamer's longest-ever theatrical commitment and a rare TIFF People's Choice win for a non-English film, represents Netflix's most credible bid yet for the top prize. A win would mark a milestone for both the streamer's awards strategy and queer cinema following 'Brokeback Mountain' and 'Moonlight.'
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