La Bola Negra (2026): the Los Javis film

It follows three gay men across three eras. In 1932 Granada, Carlos (Milo Quifes) is blackballed by the town's Casino over rumors about his sexuality. In 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, Rafael Rodríguez Rapún (Miguel Bernardeau), Federico García Lorca's last great love, is a Republican prisoner alongside Sebastián (Guitarricadelafuente). In 2017, Alberto (Carlos González), a playwright, comes across Lorca's lost pages through a family inheritance. The directors call it "an anti-war, anti-fascist film". Sources: Infobae, Wikipedia.

Netflix opens it in US theaters on October 16, 2026 and puts it on the service on December 2, 2026. That 47-day exclusive theatrical window is the longest Netflix has ever given a film. Sources: Variety, Vital Thrills, World of Reel.

In the US, yes, from December 2, 2026. Netflix won US rights after a Cannes bidding war that also drew Neon, A24 and Mubi, in a deal Variety put around $5 million. Netflix does not hold the film everywhere: in Spain it streams on Movistar Plus+ from December 2. Sources: Variety, idealista.

Best Director at the 79th Cannes Film Festival, shared ex aequo with Pawel Pawlikowski for Fatherland. It premiered in competition on May 21, 2026; the awards were handed out on May 23. The Palme d'Or went to Fjord. Sources: Festival de Cannes, Wikipedia.

Yes. It won the People's Choice Award at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival, the audience prize often read as an early Oscar signal, and the first ever for a Netflix title. Sources: The Hollywood Reporter, World of Reel.

Yes. On September 16, 2026, the Spanish Film Academy selected it as Spain's submission for Best International Feature at the 2027 Oscars, ahead of Los domingos and El ser querido. The shortlist lands December 15, nominations January 21, 2027, and the ceremony is March 14, 2027. Source: Spanish Film Academy.

Guitarricadelafuente (Sebastián) in his acting debut, Miguel Bernardeau (Rafael Rodríguez Rapún), Carlos González (Alberto), Milo Quifes (Carlos) and Lola Dueñas, with special appearances by Penélope Cruz and Glenn Close. Sources: Spanish Film Academy, Wikipedia.

Partly. Lorca left only about four pages of an unfinished novel called *La bola negra* before he was killed in 1936, opening on a young man rejected by the Granada Casino because he is gay. The title refers to club votes cast with balls, white to admit and black to reject. The film also draws on Alberto Conejero's play *La piedra oscura*; Conejero co-wrote the script. Sources: Infobae, Wikipedia.

155 minutes, about 2 hours 35 minutes. Sources: Pandora Film, Wikipedia.

Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, the Spanish duo behind the film *La llamada* (2017) and the series *Paquita Salas*, *Veneno* and *La Mesías*. La Bola Negra is their second feature film. It is produced by Movistar Plus+ and Suma Content with Pedro and Agustín Almodóvar's El Deseo and France's Le Pacte, on a budget of around €15 million. Sources: Spanish Film Academy, Wikipedia.