Who would have told us, back in July, when all things cinematic revolved around Homer, the films that had to be seen exactly as they had been conceived and the laborious year of Robert Pattinson, that three months later a Spanish film would cause some to doubt that Nolan and his epic adventure would be the big winner at the upcoming Oscars. But that is how it is, and this is only the beginning, as The Black Ball premieres today in the United States, a prerequisite to compete in the industry’s most prestigious awards.
Netflix acquired the rights for the United States market at the Cannes Film Festival, where Los Javis were recognized with the Best Director Award, for 5 million dollars. And many wonder if the gorgeous homage to Lorca signed by the Madrid-based duo will be Netflix’s first film to win the coveted Best Picture statue. An undoubtedly paradoxical fact, since in Spain the feature belongs to Movistar+ and it will be on this platform where it can be watched once its cinema run finishes in our country.
Precisely about this, the arrival of Spanish fiction to Netflix around the world, Los Javis have also made history. Because The Black Ball already is the film with the longest window of theatrical exhibition (the period of time it will be shown in cinemas before moving to the platform), 47 days. If we add Penélope Cruz and Guitarricadelafuente on the cover of Variety, one of the most prestigious industry magazines, and the Anglo-Saxon critics who have showered it with praise, everything seems to indicate that the film will reach cinematic glory in 2027.
Well Positioned in the Predictions
Awaiting the release of some of the films that experts have already had the chance to see at festivals, the truth is that lovers of film betting predict up to ten Oscar nominations for the Los Javis’ film, among them Penélope Cruz and Guitarricadelafuente, Best Picture and Best International Feature, as well as Best Original Song, Best Score, Best Cinematography, by Gris Jordana, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Directing and Best Sound.
Penélope Cruz in an image from The Black Ball.
The first date on which we will be able to start clearing up doubts will be December 15, when the list of 15 feature films preselected for the Oscar for Best International Feature is announced. The final selection of nominees and the rest of the categories will be announced on January 21 and the awards will be handed out on March 14. In the coming months we will be able to see Los Javis and their team in many American media outlets, especially if the more optimistic aspirations are confirmed. But we will already be able to get an idea of what awaits them in the first quarter of 2027 on December 7, when the nominations for the much-discussed precursor, the Golden Globes, are announced. They will be presented on January 10.
A good demonstration of the American backing that The Black Ball has is that the Gotham Film Awards, which recognize independent cinema, have awarded it the Gotham Vanguard Tribute, which “recognizes pioneering films that push the boundaries of cinema through bold artistic choices.” An award that last year went to Frankenstein and that will be presented on November 30.
National Awards Calendar of the Industry
Truth is that, although those of us who work in this are excited, prematurely exhausted by what awaits us, and as nervous as if it were our film (although a bit it is), we do not live exclusively on American awards. And the national awards season will begin on the same day as the Oscar preselection, December 15, with the nominations for the Goya Awards to be delivered on February 6 at the Navarra Arena in Pamplona.
Carlos González, Alberto in The Black Ball, in an image from the film.
Four days later, at the IFEMA Palace in Madrid, the Forqué Awards will be handed out, awarded by the Producers’ Audiovisual Rights Management Entity, while the Feroz, which is awarded by the Spanish Association of Film Journalists, will take place on January 23 in Pontevedra.
Beyond the awards, among those already received in Cannes, San Sebastián, Sydney, Busan and Toronto, it is undeniable that The Black Ball has already made history in cinema, with nearly four million spectators and 22 million euros grossed. And all of that with only three weeks in theaters.
