Guitarricadelafuente to Receive Discovery Award at SCAD Savannah

Guitarricadelafuente will receive the Discovery Award at this year's SCAD Savannah Film Festival, recognized for his breakout feature acting debut in "La Bola Negra."

The 29-year-old musician collects the honor following a festival screening of the film on Oct. 24.

Directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi — known collectively as Los Javis — "La Bola Negra" stars Guitarricadelafuente as Sebastián, a soldier during the Spanish Civil War who falls in love with a wounded prisoner he is assigned to guard in hospital. Miguel Bernardeau plays the prisoner.

Sebastián's story is one of three interwoven narratives about queer men spanning nearly a century of Spanish history. Milo Quife plays Carlos, a young man rejected from a members-only social club in Granada in 1932 for being gay. Carlos González plays Albert, a queer historian in 2017 who uncovers family secrets after the death of his grandfather. Lola Dueñas, Penélope Cruz, Glenn Close and Julio Torres round out the cast.

The film arrives with considerable hardware. "La Bola Negra" won the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, the Audience Award at the San Sebastián Film Festival and the best director prize at Cannes for Calvo and Ambrossi.

Guitarricadelafuente's path to the screen began in music. He first gained attention in 2018 with "El Conticinio," a song recorded on a PlayStation microphone. That same recording was later chosen for a 2025 Apple commercial directed by Spike Jonze and starring Pedro Pascal. His early hits "Guantanamera" and "Nana Triste" (with Natalia Lacunza) drew 59 million and 70 million streams, respectively. His debut album "La Cantera" arrived in 2022, followed by "Spanish Leather" in 2025 — an album with a cover shot by Wolfgang Tillmans.

His original song "La Naze" — "La Nieve" — from "La Bola Negra" is now available to stream.

At SCAD, Guitarricadelafuente joins a roster of previously announced honorees: Helen Mirren receives the Legend of Entertainment Award, Julianne Moore the Icon Award and Patrice Vermette the Variety Creative Impact in Production Design Award. The festival runs at The Savannah College of Art and Design from Oct. 24 to 31.

"La Bola Negra" opens in limited release on Oct. 16 before expanding wider and premiering on Netflix on Dec. 2. The SCAD tribute, timed days after the theatrical rollout, positions the first-time actor squarely in the middle of an awards conversation already amplified by festival wins in Toronto, San Sebastián and Cannes.