Following its much-talked-about Cannes premiere, Javier Ambrosi and Javier Calvo’s La Bola Negra (The Black Ball) has been sold to Netflix in a deal thought to be in the $5 million range.
The ambitious film, which marks the Cannes competition debut of the filmmaking duo known collectively as Ross Javis, earned a rapturous 16-minute standing ovation at its premiere Thursday night. On Friday, multiple distributors, including Neon, A24 and Mubi, acquired the U.S. rights to the film. Goodfellas negotiated international contracts on behalf of the filmmakers.
The sale marks the second major bidding war at this year’s festival, following Jordan Firstman’s “Club Kid,” which ultimately sold for $17 million at A24.
“The Black Ball,” a queer epic spanning 85 years of Spain’s history and inspired by the unfinished fragments of Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca, is in contention for both the Palme d’Or and the Queer Palm. Ambrossi and Calbo co-wrote the screenplay with playwright Alberto Conejero.
The story follows the interconnected lives of three gay men across three time periods: 1932, 1937, and 2017, weaving together stories of desire, loss, and what one generation leaves behind for the next. The film’s title alludes to a form of social rejection: a black ball thrown into a ballot box to deny young gay men admission to a club in Granada. The film stars Spanish singer-songwriter Guitarica de la Fuente in her screen debut, co-starring Miguel Bernardo, Carlos Gonzalez, Milo Cuifes, and Laura Dueñas, with a supporting role from Glenn Close, and an extended cameo from Penelope Cruz. Guy Lodge of Variety magazine said the film’s “flamboyantly formal approach and heart-pounding emotionalism are sure to win fans at home and abroad, both within and outside the LGBT arthouse market.”
“The Black Ball” is co-produced by Movistar Plus+, Los Javi’s Suma Content Films, Pedro and Agustín Almodovar’s El Deseo and Le Pacte.
Netflix has a track record with major Spanish-language film award nominees, especially Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez, which received 13 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, the most nominated film in a language other than English in history. The film won two Oscars, with Zoe Saldana winning Best Supporting Actress and “El Mal” winning Best Original Song. Netflix also produced “ROMA,” a black-and-white drama directed by Alfonso Cuaron set in 1970s Mexico City, which was nominated for 10 Oscars and won three Academy Awards: Best Foreign Language Film, Best Director, and Best Cinematography.
Brent Lang contributed to this report.
