‘La Bola Negra’ wins top prize at Toronto International Film Festival

“La Bola Negra,” which translates to “The Black Ball,” will open in theaters Oct. 16 before going to Netflix in December, and it is expected to get an Oscar campaign from the streaming service. (Elastica [Spain], Le Pacte [France])

By STEPHANIE GOODMAN

“La Bola Negra,” the Spanish epic interweaving the story of three gay men over decades, won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday.

The award, voted on by audiences, can be a bellwether of the best picture Oscar, as in 2018 and 2020, when “Green Book” and “Nomadland” went on to win at the Academy Awards.

“La Bola Negra,” which translates to “The Black Ball,” will open in theaters Oct. 16 before going to Netflix in December, and it is expected to get an Oscar campaign from the streaming service.

The film, inspired by an unfinished Federico García Lorca story, stars singer-songwriter Guitarricadelafuente with appearances by Penélope Cruz and Glenn Close. It premiered in May at the Cannes Film Festival, where its makers, Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, shared best director honors with Pawel Pawlikowski (for “Fatherland”).

Known collectively as Los Javis, Calvo and Ambrossi are famous in Spain for creating television shows such as “Veneno,” and for their long-standing run as judges on the Spanish version of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” The couple ended their personal relationship during the making of “La Bola Negra,” telling The New York Times that working on the film “opened a door we needed to face, that we were not in love anymore.”

The first runner-up for the People’s Choice Award was “I Play Rocky,” the crowd-pleasing, behind-the-scenes story of the making of the Sylvester Stallone boxing classic, directed by Peter Farrelly (“Green Book”). The second runner-up was “Being Heumann,” directed by Sian Heder (“CODA”). It is an upbeat recounting of a landmark disability rights protest led by activist Judy Heumann. Both films will reach theaters in November.

The Toronto runners-up can be significant players at the Oscars, too, often garnering best picture nominations. In 2024, “Anora,” the eventual best picture winner, was a runner-up at Toronto.

On Sunday, the International People’s Choice Award went to the gutting drama “Elsinore.” In that film, directed by Simon Stone, Andrew Scott plays “Chariots of Fire” actor Ian Charleson, who was determined to play Hamlet at the National Theater even as he was dying of AIDS. It will also open in theaters in November.

The People’s Choice Documentary Award went to “Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been,” directed by Barry Avrich, about the R&B singer. And the People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award went to “Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney,” Matthew Rankin’s anarchic look at Canadian politics and the titular prime minister.