Miami Film Festival Gems to Honor Los Javis and Guitarricadelafuente

By Tom Whitfield

Variety will hand two of its awards to the team behind "La Bola Negra" at Miami Dade College's Miami Film Festival Gems on Wednesday, Nov. 4. Singer-turned-actor Guitarricadelafuente receives the Virtuoso Award; directors Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, known as Los Javis, receive the Visionary Director Award. The ceremony starts at 7:00 p.m. at the Wolfson Auditorium.

The honors tie directly to one film. Guitarricadelafuente is recognized for his breakout performance in Netflix's upcoming "La Bola Negra," while Calvo and Ambrossi are cited for their direction of the same picture. The film opens in select theaters on Oct. 16 and premieres on Netflix on Dec. 2.

The 13th edition of Miami Film Festival Gems runs Oct. 29 – Nov. 5 and, per the festival, continues its tradition of celebrating the year's top films and award contenders. All three honorees will take part in a Q&A with Variety co-president and co-editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh.

What backs the award claims?

The festival's case rests on a specific chain of laurels. Setoodeh said: "From the moment I saw 'La Bola Negra' at Cannes — where it was honored with a thunderous 20-minute standing ovation — I knew it was a monumental work of art. We are thrilled to honor Guitarricadelafuente for his star-is-born performance as the heartsick soldier Sebastián, as well as Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, the brilliant team of directors behind the film."

Beyond Cannes, the film won the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival and the Audience Award at the San Sebastián Film Festival. Calvo and Ambrossi also took the best director award at Cannes. Audience prizes at three major festivals are a strong signal — though audience awards measure popularity, not critical consensus, and the season's industry-voted prizes will be the real test.

Who is the debut actor?

Guitarricadelafuente makes his acting debut as Sebastián. The Barcelona-based artist began as a musician: two albums ("La Cantera," 2022; "Spanish Leather," 2025), two Latin Grammy nominations. His original song from the film, "La Nieve," is now available to stream. A first screen role earning a festival tribute is rare; sustaining a film career from one performance is rarer still.

Los Javis directed, co-wrote and produced "La Bola Negra" after creating the series "Veneno" and "La Mesías."

What does this change for Miami — and for the film?

For the festival, the Nov. 4 event stages Miami as a gateway for Spanish-language cinema on the awards circuit. Lauren Cohen, Director of Programming, said: "Miami has always been a champion of Spanish cinema and a home for bold new voices, and few artists embody the fire and fearlessness we're drawn to as vividly as Los Javis and Guitarricadelafuente. Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi have a singular gift for telling intimate, emotional stories on a grand scale, and Guitarricadelafuente brings a soulful magnetism to both his music and his film debut."

For "La Bola Negra," the ceremony lands mid-window between its Oct. 16 theatrical release and its Dec. 2 Netflix premiere — a well-timed platform timed, plainly, to keep the film in the awards conversation.