Spanish civil war drama ‘The Black Ball’ wins TIFF’s People’s Choice Award

Co-director calls his film an 'epic gay drama for everyone'

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Published Sep 20, 2026  •  Last updated 7 minutes ago  •  2 minute read

From left to right: Miguel Bernardeau, Carlos Gonzalez, Guitarricadelafuente, Javier Calvo, Penelope Cruz, Javier Ambrossi, and Milo Quifes attend Netflix's "La Bola Negra" Canadian premiere on Sept. 15, 2026 at the Toronto International Film Festival. Photo by Cindy Ord /Getty Images for Netflix

Spain’s “The Black Ball,” a gay rights drama set during the country’s civil war, won top prize Sunday at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The ambitious epic, known as “La Bola Negra” in Spanish, stars Miguel Bernardeau, along with Penelope Cruz and Glenn Close, weaving the stories of three gay men across different eras in Spain.

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The Toronto win gives the film, directed by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, a creative duo affectionately known as “Los Javis,” an early boost in the race for recognition at the Oscars, where the festival’s People’s Choice Award has proved a useful bellwether.

Speaking to reporters earlier this month, Ambrossi, who used to be in a relationship with Calvo, called “The Black Ball” “a tribute to the LGBTQ+ community” of the past that fought for human rights and an “epic gay drama for everyone.”

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Unlike festival prizes bestowed by Cannes and Venice, the Toronto People’s Choice Award is selected by public audiences. Any movie in the festival’s official lineup is eligible, unlike the curated “in competition” shortlists used elsewhere.

Ambrossi and Calvo are famous in Spain particularly for their television work, but their star has been rising globally after a smash debut of the film at Cannes, where it shared the best director award with Pawel Pawlikowski (“Fatherland”).

Poet’s unpublished work inspired directors

Early inspiration for the movie came from the unpublished play written by Federico Garcia Lorca, a poet who was executed by fascist forces at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War in 1936.

The directors said the four pages of unfinished writing sparked their curiosity and drew them in.

“We got obsessed with his work,” Calvo told journalists, adding he and Ambrossi immersed themselves in Lorca’s writings, correspondence and biographies.

The filmmakers said that many countries still have anti-LGBTQ laws and people within the community can be persecuted or even killed for their sexuality.

Calvo emphasized that the film is “about empathy and humanity and seeing the other as a person.”

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