Los Javis and Guitarricadelafuente on 'La Bola Negra': "The Gayest, Biggest War Movie Ever"

"La Bola Negra" premiered at Cannes in May to a 20-minute standing ovation. It has since become one of the highest-grossing films in Spanish history, and its first-time lead, the musician Guitarricadelafuente, is now floated for Oscar consideration in acting and for his original song "La Nieve."

The directors, Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi — known as Los Javis — and their star appeared at the Miami Film Festival on Nov. 4 for a Q&A with Variety co-president and co-editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh. There, Guitarricadelafuente received the Virtuoso Award and Los Javis the Visionary Director Award.

How does a musician become a film lead without an audition?

There was no audition. Los Javis approached Guitarricadelafuente with only the "essence of the character" of Sebastián, who opposite Rafael (Miguel Bernardeau) anchors a story inspired in part by a play by Spanish writer Alberto Conejero, who co-wrote the screenplay with the directors. "There was something very magic with it because I was finishing an album at that time, a music album," Guitarricadelafuente said. "And there was some synchronicity with the story that they wanted to tell with what I was experiencing in my songwriting." His latest album, "Spanish Leather," debuted in 2025.

Calvo recalled cooking tortilla de patatas for the musician at their house while discussing the role. "Nos nutrimos," Calvo said of the process. "We nourish from his art." Ambrossi admitted he did not know the film would work until the musician signed on: "I needed his face to write the movie, because it's the kind of face of the kind of spirit that is so clean and so without dust."

The screen test with Bernardeau proved critical. "I think it was very important for us to live that journey together and to build that in our own skins," Guitarricadelafuente said. During one Friday night shoot, Calvo asked the actor for a song; listening to Gabo Ferro's "Volver a volver" supplied the emotional energy to finish the scene.

What does the directors' method change on set?

The pair wrote the film using two whiteboards — one tracking character progression, the other mapping the audience's experience, which Ambrossi called key to the film's woven structure. Calvo cited "The Hours," the Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore and Meryl Streep film based on Michael Cunningham's novel, as both inspiration and warning.

Ambrossi set out the film's ambition plainly: "I want to do an LGBTQ+ movie for everyone and to be the gayest, biggest war movie ever." He joked that the film is like "the gay 'Titanic.'"

At Cannes, the duo recalled fighting over the volume during the screening before watching the audience begin to cry. "It felt like a moment of peace because we are very used to push," Ambrossi said. "And suddenly it felt like we were not pushing at all."

Despite serving as judges on "Drag Race," a show that often encourages cattiness, the pair reject harshness on set. "I never understood the shouting, angry director because you get nothing out of scared people," Calvo said. "You get everything out of free, happy, motivated people in your team." When the two directors disagree, the actor wins, Calvo said.

When Penélope Cruz arrived for her scene-stealing turn as Nené Romero, "Guitarrica had gone to war and back," Calvo said. "It was beautiful how she helped you to be a better actor, but you also made her family."

Sofia Coppola, Anne Hathaway and Madonna have publicly praised the film. What comes next? "We do," Ambrossi said of the pair's plans — though he declined to say what.