'La bola negra' by Los Javis wins Toronto Film Festival People's Choice Award

People's Choice Award in Toronto

On 20 September 2026, the Spanish drama 'La bola negra' won the People's Choice Award at the 51st Toronto International Film Festival. Directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, known collectively as Los Javis, the film emerged as the audience favourite on the closing Sunday of the Canadian festival. The production finished ahead of runner-up titles including the Sylvester Stallone biopic 'I Play Rocky' and the drama 'Being Heumann'. It represents the first foreign-language production to claim Toronto's top audience prize since a Lebanese film won the award in 2011.

Calvo and Ambrossi received the news while attending the San Sebastián Film Festival, where their feature was scheduled to screen at the Victoria Eugenia Theatre. In a video sent to Toronto organisers, Calvo thanked the festival audience.

Thanks to the TIFF audience for embracing our film and giving us the award. We are speechless, we are excited, we are honoured.

Plot and Lorca's unfinished legacy

The film takes its title from an unfinished play by Spanish poet and dramatist Federico García Lorca. The narrative interweaves the lives of three men across three distinct historical periods, 1932, 1937, and 2017. Connected through desire, sexuality, and shared memory, the storyline examines Spanish homosexual identity across multiple generations. Speaking in San Sebastián before the award announcement, the directors noted that the central concept reflects the psychological weight of inherited social rejection.

Ambrossi explained that the project aimed to explore male intimacy through an explicit love story between men for the first time in their directorial career.

That black ball looks very pretty, it is poetic inheritance and all that, but it has practical effects. The rejection you suffer from childhood has consequences throughout your entire life.

Festival journey and award campaign

The Toronto win adds to a festival run that began in May 2026 at the Cannes Film Festival, where Calvo and Ambrossi shared the Best Director award ex aequo. Earlier in the week of the Toronto victory, the Spanish Film Academy selected 'La bola negra' as the official Spanish entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the Academy Awards. The 99th Oscars ceremony is scheduled to take place on 14 March 2027 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

Toronto's People's Choice Award has historically served as a strong indicator of Academy Awards recognition. Since 2012, all but one winner of the Toronto audience award went on to earn an Oscar nomination for Best Picture, including previous winners such as 'Green Book' in 2018 and 'Nomadland' in 2020. American trade publications Variety and The Hollywood Reporter have projected between 7 and 14 Oscar nominations for the Spanish film across categories including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actress.

Cast, production, and release

The ensemble cast features singer-songwriter Guitarricadelafuente in his acting debut, alongside Miguel Bernardeau, Carlos González, Milo Quifes, and Lola Dueñas. International actors Penélope Cruz and Glenn Close also appear in supporting roles. Produced by Movistar Plus and Suma Content with participation from Atresmedia, the film has also secured financial backing and global distribution support from Netflix.

'La bola negra' is scheduled for general theatrical release in Spanish cinemas on Friday, 25 September 2026. The theatrical debut follows immediately after its presentations at the Toronto and San Sebastián film festivals.