During a Movistar+ presentation at the historic Telefónica Building on Madrid’s Gran Via this afternoon, renowned writer-director-producer duo Los Javis – Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo – shared early details about their next project, “La bola negra,” a multi-timelined feature about what it is and has meant to be a gay man in Spain throughout the last century.
A day after their series “La Mesías” won the Rose d’Or Award for best mini or limited series at Content Americas, Ambrossi and Calvo – known locally as Los Javis – revealed that they’re in the final stages of putting the project together and will begin shooting later this year. Abrossi and Calvo are writing, directing, and co-producing the feature through their label Suma Content, which is teaming with Movistar+, its production and distribution partner, on “La Mesías.”
“La bola negra” is a “queer revisitation of a part of the history of our country,” explained Ambrossi from the stage. The film shares its name with one of legendary gay Spanish poet, playwright and theater director Federico García Lorca’s unfinished works. Four pages of the document were written by the author, who “speaks of a person they reject because of their sexual orientation,” Ambrossi explained. “He couldn’t finish it because he was killed. It was the first time Frederick had written to an explicitly homosexual protagonist. We start from that work to create a reflection on what it means to be gay over time, in three different times. We are living the journey of writing between an introspective search and historical research from the utmost respect.”
Elaborating with a more specific synopsis, Calvo added, “‘ La bola negra’ narrates the interconnected lives of three men in three different eras. Three existences, mainly linked by sexuality and desire, pain and inheritance. And one final, unfinished work of Federico García Lorca.”
Much like Lorca’s piece was the first time that he even put a gay man in the leading role, “La bola negra” will be the first time that Los Javis headline a gay man in one of their works. “We’ve always examined [what it is to be queer] by telling stories about women or trans people,” Ambrossi recalled, explaining that this time, the story will be told from a perspective the creative and life partners know well.
More to come…
