La Bola Negra received a 20-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday evening. The film comes to a second place for longest ovation, first being 2006’s Pan’s Labyrinth directed by Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water, The Book of Life) that received a 22-minute ovation. 

The film stars Penelope Cruz (Vanilla Sky, Vicky Cristina Barcelona), Lorenzo Zurzolo (Baby, Under the Riccione Sun), Miguel Bernardeau (Wave of Crimes, It’s for Your Own Good), Carlos Gonzalez (Queer You Are, In Love All Over), Glenn Close (101 Dalmatians, Cruella), Lola Dueñas (The Woman on the 6th Floor, Journey to a Mother’s Room), Milo Quifes and Guitarricadelafu (In My Room, nana triste). The film is directed by Javier Ambrossi (La mesías, Holy Camp!) and Javier Calvo (Paquita Salas, Veneno). The film was shot by Gris Jordana (The Orphanage, The Birthday Party), the director of photography. The drama musical is the third Spanish film premiering in the 2026 Cannes Festival. 

 The official synopsis of La Bola Negra is as follows:

La bola negra tells the interconnected stories of three men in three different eras. Three lives intimately linked by sexuality and desire, pain and inheritance, and one of the last unfinished works by Spanish poet Federico García Lorca.

The directors stated, “To everyone who thinks that we’re gonna step back in our LGBTQ rights, I have bad news.” View the tweet below: 

‘La Bola Negra’ directors Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi get a loud applause as they tell the audience at their #Cannes2026 premiere: “To everyone who thinks that we’re gonna step back in our LGBTQ rights, I have bad news” pic.twitter.com/DDf2FCWFQx

— Deadline (@DEADLINE) May 21, 2026