Glenn Close had never spoken Spanish when she signed on to "La Bola Negra," the Spanish-language drama from Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, known as Los Javis. "She doesn't speak a word of Spanish -- like, not a single word," Ambrossi said at an Oct. 19 press conference. When he asked whether she was willing to learn, he said her answer was, "Yes, because I'm Glenn Close." Calvo said the filmmakers sent a Spanish teacher to her "Hunger Games" set in Germany.
The film, which won Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival, took the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival and is Spain's submission for the Academy Award for international feature, is adapted from the play "La piedra oscura" by co-writer Alberto Conejero, from "La bola negra" and from other texts by Federico García Lorca. It follows three generations of gay men across Spanish history and stars Guitarricadelafuente, Miguel Bernardeau, Milo Quifes, Carlos González, Lola Dueñas, Julio Torres, Penélope Cruz and Close. Lorca left only four pages of the play before he was murdered by fascists in 1936, Calvo said, "and the rest is ours."
The closing song, "La Nieve," came out of the hardest day of the shoot. Guitarricadelafuente, who plays Sebastian, went to his room after filming a scene in a storm in Cantabria, and "at six a.m., we received a voice note on WhatsApp," Calvo said. "It was like a first draft of the song." The filmmakers rebuilt the ending around it. "You don't have to change a queer story in order to get to the audience," Ambrossi said. Netflix opened the film in four U.S. theaters Oct. 16 and reported $277,500, according to the moderator, Variety's Jazz Tangcay, who called it the first time Netflix had reported a box-office number. It streams on Netflix in the U.S. and Canada on Dec. 2.
Read Cup of Soul's review: "La Bola Negra" Is a Heartbreaking Portrait of Love, Loss and the Lives History Tried to Erase.
When does 'La Bola Negra' come to Netflix?
Dec. 2, 2026, in the U.S. and Canada. It has been in select U.S. theaters since Oct. 16.
Does Glenn Close speak Spanish in 'La Bola Negra'?
Yes. She learned her lines in Spanish for the role. Javier Ambrossi said she didn't speak a word of the language before.
What awards is 'La Bola Negra' nominated for?
British Independent Film Awards (best international independent film), Gotham Awards (Audience Award and Breakthrough Performer for Guitarricadelafuente) and Hollywood Music in Media Awards (original song "La Nieve" and Raül Refree's score).
