Major Miami Film Festival honor propels 'La Bola Negra,' extending its festival momentum
Riding a wave of festival acclaim, La Bola Negra just scored a Miami boost that kicks its momentum up another notch.
The Miami spotlight comes with hardware attached: at the 13th annual Miami Film Festival GEMS, filmmaking duo Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi (aka Los Javis) will receive the festival’s Visionary Director Award for La Bola Negra. The prize will be presented by Variety on November 4 at the Wolfson Auditorium.
It ’ll be a big night for their leading man too. Guitarricadelafuente — making his acting debut in the film — is set to pick up the festival’s Virtuoso Award, and he’ll join Calvo and Ambrossi for an extended in-person conversation moderated by Variety co–editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh.
Festival track record
The Miami honors arrive after a head-turning run: the Spanish queer period epic drew a 16-minute standing ovation at Cannes, where Los Javis also shared the Best Director award, and later won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. At home, it’s crossed €25 million at the Spanish box office.
Cannes greeted La Bola Negra with a 16-minute standing ovation.
Where to see it next
The film keeps adding U.S. festival stops ahead of awards season. Upcoming appearances include:
- Newport Beach Film Festival — October 15–22
- Montclair Film Festival — through October 25
- Middleburg Film Festival — appearance planned; Guitarricadelafuente will also be recognized
- SCAD Savannah Film Festival — appearance planned
- Miami Film Festival GEMS — awards presentation on November 4
Miami Film Festival GEMS runs October 29–November 5 and is hosted by Miami Dade College.