‘La Bola Negra’ Wins the Toronto International Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award

“La Bola Negra,” a Spanish-language film directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. The audience-selected prize is closely watched during awards season because several past winners, including “Green Book” and “Nomadland,” later received major Oscar recognition.

The film follows three gay men whose stories unfold across several decades. It draws inspiration from an unfinished work by Federico García Lorca and features performances by singer-songwriter Guitarricadelafuente, Penélope Cruz, and Glenn Close. The movie previously screened at the Cannes Film Festival, where Calvo and Ambrossi shared the Best Director award with Paweł Pawlikowski for “Fatherland.”

Known collectively as Los Javis, Calvo and Ambrossi have become prominent figures in Spanish entertainment through projects such as the television series “Veneno” and their work as judges on Spain’s version of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” During the production of “La Bola Negra,” the directors also ended their romantic relationship, adding a personal dimension to the film’s development.

The movie is scheduled to open in theaters on October 16 before arriving on Netflix in December. Its Toronto victory is expected to encourage the streaming service to mount an Oscar campaign.

“I Play Rocky,” a documentary about the making of Sylvester Stallone’s boxing film, finished as the first runner-up, while “Being Heumann,” about disability-rights activist Judy Heumann, placed second. The festival’s other audience awards went to “Elsinore,” “Lynyrd Love I Know I’ve,” and “Ladies and Gentlemen, Murl,” in their respective categories.