La Bola Negra, a new movie by Spanish filmmakers Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi — known collectively as "Los Javis" — is an epic story that takes viewers through three timelines: a young man blackballed for being gay 1932; a soldier from 1937 who falls in love with the wounded enemy prisoner; and a contemporary writer who inherits something from a grandfather he never knew, which ties the three stories together.
"We don't have that many movies or books about the history that connects us as a community, the queer community," Ambrossi says. "That's why we wanted to make it big. We wanted to make it epic and we wanted to make it bold."
The film is based on four pages of a play that famed Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca began writing about a young man who was subject to the "black ball system" that was popular in the private clubs of 1930s Spain. Members dropped balls into a box to decide who would belong: A white ball meant you were in, a black ball meant that you were out.
But in 1936, before Lorca could finish the play, he was arrested and murdered. In order to complete Lorca's script, Calvo and Ambrossi immersed themselves in his world. "We read letters. … We were following the clues," Ambrossi says. "We were like detectives." Calvo adds, "It was fun to discover that he would like to talk about his projects in parties."
Calvo says the film helps them feel closer to a generation of gay men who came before them: "We are all connected by this black ball that we all share, that we pass to each other, every generation, a black ball, that is silence, pain, shame, but also it's a spark of life and desire and love and joy. I feel like it made me feel proud of my community and of the brave people that fought before me."
Los Javis won the prize for best directing at the Cannes Film Festival in May. La Bola Negra has been acquired by Netflix. It's in select theaters now and will begin streaming on Netflix on Dec. 2.
Interview highlights
On the cabaret girls, or "cupletistas," who performed in Madrid in the early 20th century (portrayed by Penélope Cruz in the film)
History repeats itself. Fascism is rising and it's a worrying thing and our weapon against intolerance and hate is our writing and making movies and this is what we're here to do.Javier Calvo
Calvo: This generation, they thought they were going to be free forever but then two dictatorships came and they were persecuted, they were murdered, they disappeared. And it's shocking to understand that today almost no one remembers them. They were kind of lost in history. … It was shocking to feel the parallelism with the society we live in now, in which we think we could be free forever, like we're going to be free forever, we conquered the rights, we're here. But history repeats itself. Fascism is rising and it's a worrying thing and our weapon against intolerance and hate is our writing and making movies and this is what we're here to do.
On the line in the film likening a gay man's heart to an "ocean of secrets"
Ambrossi: That's not very poetic, because it's a tribute to Titanic. So it was more like a wink to the audience. The people that know, know. … Besides the Titanic tribute, we wanted to do a poetic movie. Because I think poetry is the opposite of fascism. Because poetry is full of meanings for everyone, and it's polysemic and poetry everyone will understand differently.
On feeling whole through their creative collaboration
Calvo: [I felt it] from the first play. … And since then it's been like a really natural collaboration. Today we were ... in the car talking about the next project and we're getting excited about the things we want to talk about.
It's kind of a mystery how we really are connected, like connected brains. ... Even in an interview, I know when he has to talk, I know when I have to talk, when he wants to intervene. It's a true connection.
Ambrossi: From the first day, it's weird and mysterious. And I think it's because we are so different. … I'm very emotional and I love to work with atmospheres and Javi is very detailed and specific. And also we are different, like, in our souls.
On becoming too enmeshed and breaking up during the making of the movie
Ambrossi: We were friends, then we became a romantic couple for 13 years. Then we broke up because it was unhealthy. It was like we needed to find ourselves. …
Calvo: You need to be honest as an artist. And we had a mature conversation. We said, let's move on and let's write. Let's keep on directing this movie in an honest and cathartic way.
Ambrossi: And when you're writing a movie about paying tribute to the people that came before you in the LGBTQ+ community and about how our rights are based on their suffering, it's like I just need at least to try to be happy, and we weren't happy in that relationship. So we changed.
Ann Marie Baldonado and Nico Gonzalez Wisler produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Beth Novey adapted it for the web.
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