Javier Ambrosi and Javier Calvo, known as Los Javis, are the most influential creative duo currently working in Spain. The two have worked on the hit series “Veneno” and “Dressed in Blue,” and the thriller “La Mesias” received critical acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival, won an award at France’s Series Mania, and is on its way to becoming the most awarded series in their country’s history.
The creators have been involved in the careers of many burgeoning celebrities from this Spanish golden generation, and now they are adding an even greater honor to their packed remit by screening “La Bola Negra” in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
La Bola Negra is an ambitious epic poem inspired by the work of Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca. It chronicles the intertwined lives of three men across three different eras: 1932, 1937, and 2017.
Singer Guitari Calafuente made his screen debut as Sebastian, a young soldier drafted to fight for the fascists during the Spanish Civil War and tasked with caring for Republican prisoner Rafael, played by Miguel Bernardo, who broke out in “Elite.” In the present day, Alberto, played by playwright Carlos Gonzalez, receives a call about a mysterious legacy left behind by his estranged grandfather, but the 1932 chapter gives the film its name by following the drama of a young man who is denied admission to a close-knit casino because of his sexuality.
Speaking to Variety on the morning of the film’s world premiere, Ambrossi was all smiles as he looked forward to hearing from audiences who saw the film for the first time. “I feel very, very happy right now,” he says. “It’s a very unique feeling.”
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Asked about competing in the Cannes competition with Pedro Almodóvar, another Spaniard who had a huge influence on their careers and is now their mentor and collaborator, Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Ambrossi said it was “unreal”. “I have a lot of respect for Pedro. For me, he was our great coach and a huge inspiration, not only professionally, but also personally as a gay kid.”
“I learned so much watching his films, and he was always so kind and generous to us,” he added. “I don’t feel like I can say I’m competing with Pedro or Sorogoyen because they’re better (laughs). I respect them.”
Ambrosi added that he was “very proud of Spanish cinema” and said the current buzz in the country was “an incredible moment”. Spain is only second to France in terms of Palme d’Or candidates in 2025 and 2026, with Carla Simon’s “Romelia” and Oliver Lux’s “Silato” competing last year, and this time “La Bora Negra” has been joined by Almodóvar’s “Bitter Christmas” and Sorogoyen’s “Beloved”. “What we are seeing is the result of several years of work and continued investment,” Ambrossi says. “These are the fruits of a lot of hard work and we hope it continues for many years.”
While Rossjavis is enjoying participating in the world’s largest film festival alongside his idols, he also reflects on efforts to foster a new generation of talent in his home country. “For us, it was also difficult to get opportunities as gay actors,” Calbo recalls. “An agent once told me that I had to hide my queerness to get work. Maybe he was right because there weren’t that many jobs available for me at the time. We wanted to do the same for others if we had more opportunities. We felt it was important and we had a responsibility to use our influence in the right way.”
“We were very fortunate that so many people believed in us when we were just starting out, and we want to do the same with our production company,” Ambrossi agrees. “We feel like we’re contributing to elevating new voices in the industry, especially young people and the LGBTQIA+ community. I think it’s great to be able to do what we’ve done for others.”
In this potential sense of community, “La Bola Negra” is emblematic of Ross Jarvis’ work, a film that serves as a love letter to the power of art to save lives and how preservation and memory can help new generations avoid the trauma of their predecessors.
“‘Veneno’ has been very important to transgender youth around the world, and I hope that ‘La Bola Negra’ will introduce young audiences to Federico García Lorca’s work,” said Ambrosi.
“He’s very modern,” he continued. “Hopefully, when young audiences go to see La Bola Negra, they go to the bookstore and buy his book and tell the world what happened to him. He was killed by fascists at a young age, and something like that should never happen again.”
“La Bola Negra” is a superproduction with hundreds of extras, spread across multiple locations, and boasts intricate work in costume and production design that not only recreates wartime Spain, but also brings the large-scale surrealist sequences to life. When asked about the scale of his latest film, Ambrossi quickly replied, “I wanted to make a big movie.”
“Javi and I were tired of the feeling that LGBT stories were niche,” he continues. “I love those movies too, but we needed to make a big movie with gay actors playing gay characters. We wanted to make the biggest movie we can make in Spain and make a statement. We have the right to make big movies and LGBT people deserve to star in big movies. When I was growing up, there were no superproductions starring gay men. I wanted to give the world this idea of a superproduction that was author-driven but also very queer.”
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Calbo further emphasized that sentiment, stating that they wanted their historical drama to feel “real and fresh.” “Too many period dramas in our country follow the same formula. We were thinking, how can we express the feeling you get when you look at an old photograph and see the faces and the looks of people walking down the street? They don’t look at the camera. They don’t always have a way to see themselves. We started asking a lot of questions about how we can see the past with this emotional involvement.”
Ross Jarvis casts two internationally renowned actors in important and very different roles. Penelope Cruz played the singer Nene in 1932, and Glenn Close played the historian Isabel in 2017. Speaking about their casting, director Calvo says that one thing he learned from Almodóvar is, “When you make a movie, you put what you like into the movie. It’s like a collage.”
“For us, it was very clear: take everything we love and create something new,” he continues. “If you’re going to make a war movie, why don’t you use a Cupletista, a Spanish singer from the ’30s who sang really spicy songs? And we kept dreaming. Why not Penelope Cruz? And what is she going to do? She’s like, ‘You’re gay, even if you’re gay.’ I’m going to be the godmother who tells her that it’s okay to be queer, it’s okay to be trans, it’s okay to be anything. Because when we were young in Madrid, we were free, and we’re not like that anymore. So we kept dreaming until she was born.”
When it comes to crose, Calvo said there is a belief in Spain that people who study Spanish and Hispanic history are mostly foreigners. “That’s because we don’t take responsibility for our history,” he added. “That’s why we thought the historian character should be American. And Glenn Close was a big fan of ‘La Messias,’ so we sent her an email. When she replied that she was a big fan of ours and would do whatever we wanted, it was an ‘Oh my God’ moment.”
Ambrosi says working together with the two actors was a “dream,” as was the entire production of “La Bola Negra.” “We made the movie we wanted to make. We were thinking about the audience. What do they want to see? People want to see emotion. They want intensity. We wanted to give that to the audience, have fun with it, and make sure they didn’t miss the pop part, which is a very important part of our work.”
La Bola Negra was produced by Los Javis’ label Suma Content in collaboration with Los Esquiadores AIE, Movistar Plus, the Almodovar brothers’ El Deseo, and Le Pacte. Elastica will be responsible for Spanish sales and Goodfellas will be responsible for international sales.
