It was hard for La Bola Negra to make much noise over the whole of Cannes, if only because the gay Spanish epic did not premiere until the very end of the film festival — at which point, it promptly emerged as one of its clear breakouts. Directed by creative (and, previously life) partners Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo — known colloquially as Los Javis — the film earned strong reviews, was acquired by Netflix in a splashy deal, and won the festival’s coveted best-director prize (in a tie with Fatherland’s Pawel Pawlikowski). It was a smash hit, at least for those who remained on the Croisette in those final days.
So Telluride, where La Bola Negra made its North American premiere this weekend, has represented the moment for the movie to prove itself as a true word-of-mouth hit. It’s done that and more. On gondolas and in line for premieres, around cafés and passersby on Colorado Avenue, it’s among the films I’ve heard about the most — a sweeping emotional experience that doubles as a deftly ambitious and subversive exploration of Spanish queer history.
The filmmakers, alongside star Carlos González, gathered on Sunday for a post-screening Q&A (moderated by yours truly) at the Palm Theater on the town’s western edge, where they met an electric response. As Calvo summed up the grand vision behind the movie: “Let’s give all the straight people the war movie they want, but let’s give our community the love story that they want — why can’t we have it all?”
