Spain Selects ‘La Bola Negra’ for the 2027 Oscars

Spain has chosen La Bola Negra, the sweeping queer historical drama from Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, as its submission for the best international feature film category at the 2027 Academy Awards. The selection was announced at the Spanish Film Academy’s headquarters in Madrid after a second round of voting.

The film beat two other shortlisted contenders: Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s The Beloved and Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s Sundays. Its selection gives the Cannes breakout another major boost as the international awards season begins to take shape.

A Cannes winner with global momentum

La Bola Negra follows interconnected stories of queer men across three periods in Spanish history: 1932, 1937 and 2017. The project draws inspiration from the opening pages of an unfinished work by poet and playwright Federico García Lorca, who was killed in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War.

Calvo and Ambrossi, widely known as Los Javis, shared the best director prize at Cannes for the film. Its ensemble includes Guitarricadelafuente, Miguel Bernardeau, Carlos González, Milo Quifes and Lola Dueñas, with Penélope Cruz and Glenn Close in prominent supporting appearances.

The drama also attracted intense distribution interest after its festival debut. Netflix secured North American rights and plans to open the film in theaters on October 16 before bringing it to streaming on December 2. That theatrical window places the movie firmly inside the streamer’s fall awards campaign.

Spain’s next step in the Oscar race

Being selected by Spain does not guarantee an Oscar nomination. The film must first make the Academy’s international feature shortlist, scheduled for December 15, before final nominations are announced on January 21. The 99th Academy Awards are set for March 14 in Los Angeles.

Spain last won the international feature Oscar in 2005 with Alejandro Amenábar’s The Sea Inside. Amenábar opened the envelope announcing this year’s choice, linking the country’s latest contender to its most recent victory in the category.