Spain has thrown its hat into the ring for the 2027 Academy Awards, selecting Javier Ambrossi's sweeping historical drama "La Bola Negra" as its official submission for Best International Feature Film. The Spanish Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences announced the pick on Tuesday, positioning the 155-minute epic as the country's standard-bearer in a race that will only intensify as national committees around the world finalize their choices in the coming weeks.

"La Bola Negra" marks Ambrossi's most ambitious solo directorial effort to date. Best known to international audiences as one half of the creative duo behind "Paquita Salas" and "Veneno," he steps away from his longtime collaboration with Javier Calvo to helm a project that spans eras, continents and emotional terrain far removed from the sharp-edged pop sensibility that made his name.

A Multigenerational Tapestry of Desire and Legacy

The film's official synopsis describes it as the story of three men living in three distinct eras, their lives bound together by sexuality and desire, by pain and by the weight of what one generation passes down to the next. It is a description that suggests the kind of structurally intricate, emotionally raw storytelling that tends to excite awards voters when executed with confidence - and the kind that can collapse under its own ambition when it isn't.

Ambrossi has assembled a cast that mixes emerging Spanish talent with established international names. Guitarricadelafuente, the musician and actor whose profile has risen steadily in Spanish-language cinema, takes the role of Sebastián. Miguel Bernardeau, familiar to global audiences from "Elite," plays Rafael, while Carlos González appears as Alberto and Milo Quifes rounds out the younger male leads as Carlos. The film also leans on two of Spain's most celebrated actresses: Lola Dueñas, an Academy Award nominee for "Volver," plays Teresa, and Penélope Cruz - an Oscar winner for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" - takes the role of Nené Romero. In a notable international crossover, Glenn Close joins the ensemble as Isabelle Durand, with Lorenzo Zurzolo also among the credited cast.

The English-language presence of Close in a Spanish-language production is unusual but not unprecedented, and it signals that Ambrossi and his producers are thinking beyond the domestic market. Spain's submission will now enter the first phase of the international feature race, where a committee of Academy members screens eligible films and whittles them down to a shortlist before the final five nominees are announced.

Release Strategy and Genre Positioning

"La Bola Negra" arrives in theaters on September 25, 2026, giving it a domestic window that aligns neatly with the traditional awards calendar. The film is classified as both a drama and a war narrative, a combination that historically performs well with international feature voters - the Academy's global membership has shown a persistent appetite for stories that examine conflict through intimate, personal lenses rather than battlefield spectacle alone.

Whether "La Bola Negra" leans more heavily toward one genre than the other remains unclear from the material released so far. Its runtime of 155 minutes places it on the longer end of this year's submission field, a fact that could work either for or against it depending on how critics receive its pacing.

What's at Stake for Spain

Spain has won the international feature Oscar just twice in the category's long history - most recently in 2000 with Pedro Almodóvar's "All About My Mother," and before that in 1983 with José Luis Garci's "To Begin Again." The country has been nominated frequently since, including a 2022 nod for Almodóvar's "Parallel Mothers," but has repeatedly fallen short in the final vote. A selection as high-profile and star-studded as "La Bola Negra" represents a deliberate swing at ending that drought.

The film's commercial prospects remain an open question. Its TMDb rating currently sits at 0/10, reflecting only the absence of user votes rather than any early verdict on its quality - a common situation for a title that has not yet reached general release. Critics and audiences will get their first real measure of the film when it opens domestically next week.

For Ambrossi, the selection caps a remarkable ascent from cult television auteur to national cinematic representative. For the Spanish industry, it is a bet that a director with a distinctive voice, backed by a cast spanning three generations of screen talent, can cut through a crowded and unpredictable international field. The shortlist announcement will be the first real test of whether that bet pays off.

Source: Hollywood Reporter