LA BOLA NEGRA
Director: Javier Calvo, Javier Ambrossi
Screenwriter: Javier Calvo, Javier Ambrossi, Alberto Conejero
Logline: La Bola Negra is a bold, passionate triptych spanning nearly a century of Spanish history from the 30s to modern day. The film tells the story of three men whose lives are intimately connected through desire, pain, and inheritance.
US Distributor: Netflix
Panelists: Javier Calvo, Javier Ambrossi, Penélope Cruz, Guitarricadelafuente, Miguel Bernardeau, Carlos González, Milo Quifes
First Screening: Tuesday, Sept. 15 at Princess of Wales Theatre
Key Quote: “Well, first of all, he’s the greatest poet who ever lived in Spain,” said Calvo of the film’s inspiration, Federico García Lorca. “His work is fascinating, captivating. He was gay, and he was murdered by fascism, and we didn’t get to read or to experience all the works he could have done if he wasn’t murdered. So, we found these four pages of his unfinished work, and it was the first play he was gonna write with a gay main character … and we didn’t get it. So, we were thinking about that loss, and it’s so painful. So, we started there.”
Ambrossi added, “And thinking about his loss, it was only 90 years ago in Spain, and we realize it’s the story of our own grandfather and our grandparents in a way. So, we thought it was very special to make a tribute to all the older generations who fought so much for LGBTQ+ rights.”
Watch the panel video above.
The Deadline Studio at TIFF is hosted at Bisha Hotel and presented by Volvo, Columbia, Patrón and Schwarzkopf.