Netflix has set Cannes prize-winner La Bola Negra for a four-week awards corridor theatrical run in the US this November.
The Spanish-language film (known in English as The Black Ball) will start its US cinema run on November 6 and debut on Netflix on December 4.
Netflix began talks for US rights to the film during the Cannes festival, where directors Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, known collectively as Los Javis, shared the best director prize with Fatherland’s Pawel Pawlikowski. An awards-qualifying theatrical run was believed to have been written into the streamer’s now-confirmed deal.
Directed, co-written (with Alberto Conejero) and produced by Calvo and Ambrossi, and inspired by an unfinished work of Spanish poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca, the film explores the interconnected lives of three gay men in 1932, 1937 and 2017.
The cast features Spanish singer-songwriter Guitarricadelafuente (real name Alvaro Lafuente Calvo) making his acting debut, Miguel Bernardeau and an ensemble including Carlos González, Milo Quifes, Lola Dueñas, Julio Torres, Penélope Cruz and Glenn Close.
The project is a Movistar Plus+ Original Film in collaboration with Suma Content Films, produced by Telefónica Audiovisual Digital and Los Esquiadores AIE, co-produced by El Deseo and Le Pacte, with the participation of Atresmedia and CREA SGR. Goodfellas is handling world sales.
In a joint statement on the Netflix deal Calvo and Ambrossi said: “When we began writing La Bola Negra, we wanted to tell a story about freedom, legacy, and the importance of LGBTQ+ visibility. Above all, we wanted to honour the generations of people whose courage and sacrifice made our freedoms possible today. We couldn’t imagine a better home than Netflix to bring this story to audiences across the United States. We are deeply grateful and excited that its message will reach millions of viewers and help carry Federico García Lorca’s legacy to audiences around the world. This is the beginning of an extraordinary new chapter for La Bola Negra, and we can’t wait for audiences to discover it.”
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