La Bola Negra has won the BFI London Film Festival Audience Award for best feature film, adding another festival prize for the drama by filmmakers Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, known as Los Javis.
Rooted in the legacy of writer Federico García Lorca, the genre-defying film follows three generations of queer men whose lives are linked by love and loss. It had its LFF gala screening on October 8, attended by the filmmakers and cast members Guitarricadelafuente, Miguel Bernardeau and Penélope Cruz.
In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Ambrossi and Calvo said they were delighted by the award and thanked the London audiences who watched and voted for the film. They said the recognition from viewers was particularly meaningful and hoped more audiences would see it when it reaches cinemas in the U.K. and Ireland on November 6.
The film’s other honors include the best director award for Los Javis at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Its LFF audience award was announced alongside the festival’s other prizes at its October 18 closing.
Grace Harper Brighouse’s Dependence won the Audience Award for best British discovery. The experimental documentary, screened in the Grierson competition, explores the experience of loving someone with an addiction. It follows Brighouse as she looks through decades of home movies after her father’s death.
The 2026 festival ran from October 7 to 18 and screened 258 titles from 87 countries in 249 languages. The program included 33 world premieres and 16 international premieres, and 43 percent of its works were by female filmmakers.
Sources: The Hollywood Reporter.