Overview
- La Bola Negra premiered in Cannes’ official competition and the Grand Théâtre Lumière screening drew an extended standing ovation of about 20 minutes that became a major talking point for the festival on Friday.
- Directors Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo co‑wrote the film with Alberto Conejero by adapting Federico García Lorca’s unfinished fragment and interweaving three periods—1932, 1937 and 2017—to examine queer lives across Spanish history.
- The film features a mixed Spanish and international cast, including Penélope Cruz and a Spanish‑speaking cameo by Glenn Close, and was presented by producers such as Movistar Plus+, Suma Content Films, El Deseo and Le Pacte.
- El Periódico reported that Los Javis won the Cannes Best Director prize ex‑aequo, while the festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or, was reported awarded to Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord; those results were published as the festival palmarès was announced.
- Penélope Cruz recounted a false alarm health scare during filming when doctors briefly suspected a cerebral aneurysm, and the directors framed the film as a political act to reclaim Lorca’s queer identity and warn against rising intolerance.