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00:03We have La Bola Negra, winner of the Audience Award at TIFF and Best Directors at Cannes.
00:12This film tells the story of three generations of men across almost a century of Spanish history.
00:20It's partly inspired by an unfinished fragment of Lorca's work
00:25and by Alberto Canajero's play La Piedra Oscura.
00:31In 1932, we meet Carlos, who longs to be accepted as Spain is fracturing around him.
00:39In 1937, Sebastian is a military trumpet player who finds himself under attack
00:46and connects with a prisoner of war called Raphael.
00:49In 2017, Alberto, a student and playwright,
00:55is trying to figure out a truth about his family that will reach way back into the past.
01:01Here to talk about La Bola Negra,
01:04please welcome the two guys who wrote, directed and produced the film,
01:09Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrosi.
01:19Thank you guys.
01:21Hello.
01:22Good morning.
01:23And starring as Nene, Penelope Cruz.
01:29Do I have enough chairs? No. Moving over.
01:33So should we?
01:34Yeah.
01:35Here?
01:36Here.
01:37Okay.
01:38Sorry.
01:39Large panel.
01:41And, oh, they're all coming on.
01:44Sebastian, played by Guitarica de la Fuente.
01:50As Alberto Carlos Gonzalez.
01:53And as Raphael Miguel Bernardo.
01:57And a special thank you to translator Eleanor Harding.
02:02Does everybody have a microphone?
02:10Wait a minute.
02:12Penelope.
02:14Okay.
02:15Slightly chaotic.
02:17My fault.
02:19All right.
02:21So, Javier and Javier, commonly known as Los Javis.
02:28Tell me all about this massive achievement of making this film.
02:32It's on so many levels, incredibly moving.
02:35It's historical.
02:36It's based on truth.
02:39Were you mostly inspired by the Lorca fragment?
02:42How did this start?
02:45So, we had another project that we couldn't make.
02:51So, we were sad.
02:53We didn't know what to do.
02:54And you know life.
02:57Sometimes magic happens and we were gonna go on a trip.
03:00And I took a book from the shell.
03:03It was La Piedra Oscura.
03:05It's a theater play in which Rafael and Sebastian's timeline is based.
03:09And when I read in the plane the first monologue, I started to cry.
03:17In the first monologue, Sebastian talks about the bombing in his town, abandoning his mother.
03:21And I didn't know something touched deep inside.
03:26Like a wound I didn't know I have about like my country and what happened like 90 years ago.
03:34So, I said to Javi, we have to do this, read it.
03:37And he read it and said, we have to do this.
03:42But, see what happened in this play.
03:44They talk about La Bola Negra.
03:46What is La Bola Negra?
03:47And we investigated and we saw it was an unfinished work by Federico.
03:50And we realized it was the first play he was gonna portray a gay character.
03:55So, it was gonna be revolutionary.
03:57But, he was murdered.
03:58He couldn't do it.
03:59And we were like, what a loss.
04:02We went to Granada.
04:03They opened up a safe in which all the manuscripts of Lorca are saved.
04:09And we got to see the four pages.
04:12And there was like a power in those pages.
04:15Like the art as a physical thing.
04:17Because the niece of Lorca said that fascism wanted to destroy all the manuscripts when the war started.
04:23But, everyone hid it.
04:24So, it felt like a weapon that fascism wanted to destroy.
04:28So, we start from there.
04:30Imagining what La Bola Negra could have been.
04:33Mixing it with the Pedro Oscura.
04:34And then, we had a present timeline.
04:37And the beautiful thing about the four pages that exist of the unfinished work by Federico Garcia Lorca.
04:45Is that the first page is a list of characters he was gonna use.
04:50And it's like Carlos, mother, father, friends, sister.
04:57And at some point, it's getting weird.
04:59Like the skiers.
05:01And the snow.
05:02So, it was like a very...
05:04It was like a challenge, you know?
05:06It was like, oh my God.
05:08If we re-imagine this world, it could be something very beautiful.
05:13Tell me about connecting with Penelope.
05:15He plays Nene, who's kind of a showgirl.
05:20Who's kind of this really soulful person who's been through a lot of grief and difficulty.
05:25But has this real joie de vivre.
05:28How did you all connect?
05:31How did we connect?
05:32Yeah.
05:33So, we saw each other like two minutes here, two minutes there in events and things like that.
05:39Never a possibility to really speak.
05:41And I was a big fan of their work.
05:44And I just told my agent how come we never have the chance to really talk and get to know
05:49each other.
05:49I want to work with them.
05:50And she set up this lunch that we had.
05:54And then we became friends in that lunch.
05:57Like after 10 minutes, we were friends.
06:00And then they told me they were writing this movie.
06:03And there was a character that they thought about sending, but they thought it was too short.
06:09And I told them, never worry about that with me.
06:13Like I don't choose the material based on how many minutes the character is on screen.
06:17And a few days later, they sent it and I completely fell in love with Nene.
06:23And I was blown away by this script.
06:26I thought like, I don't know if they realized how incredible and powerful this is.
06:32What they have in their hands.
06:34I guess they did because they did it.
06:36But it's just like, even today I wonder.
06:40Like I don't know if they 100% realize how powerful this movie is.
06:44So yeah, I feel really, really grateful to be part of this film.
06:51And to give voice to this woman that represents that possibility of freedom.
06:57That possibility of being yourself.
07:01Not having to hide who you are.
07:03So it's been a big privilege to play her.
07:09Well, speaking of the power of this film, we're going to roll a clip right now before we continue the
07:15conversation.
07:20Hello, black.
07:22The other day, I received the call from a lawyer.
07:26Why did you never tell me that your father was alive?
07:29I don't want to know anything about that man.
07:31And you neither.
07:32Let's leave things like that.
07:35I never explained anything.
07:36Nothing.
07:39I didn't talk a lot about the past.
07:41The prisoner who's custody is called Rafael RodrÃguez Rapun.
07:45No.
07:47Among the theater works that Federico Garcia Lorca couldn't finish writing,
07:51there's one in particular that talks about a young man.
07:53Yes, that's the black woman.
07:55There are only four pages that exist from this play.
07:58You have to be.
07:59Who has to be?
08:00A man.
08:06This country has too many stories of love buried in the fields.
08:15I think the most important questions for you to ask are...
08:19Who was your father?
08:24And why was he hidden for all his life?
08:32You are the one who you are.
08:37You are the one who you are.
08:40Let's go.
08:41Let's go.
08:42Let's go.
08:42If he's not, he's not going to do anything else.
08:43Let's go.
08:47I don't care what it is.
08:50I don't care what it is.
08:53I swear I have been trying all my life, but I don't understand.
08:58But I don't understand.
09:17It's really hard to even convey the epic scale of this film and how much it contains.
09:23It's, you know, it's love, it's history, it's tragedy.
09:27It's incredible.
09:29I just absolutely struggle to put it into words, honestly.
09:34It's amazing.
09:36Guitarica.
09:38Hello.
09:39You're next.
09:42I'd love to hear from you.
09:43As a professional musician, this is your first big acting role and Los Javis wrote it with you in mind.
09:50Can you talk a little bit about the conversations you had about the role and maybe whether some of your
09:58experience on stage with your music helped you in the performance?
10:06Well, I remember the first time that they reached me out, I was, I didn't understand what they were doing.
10:12Like, this was my first time acting ever and they never saw me act and they came with this idea
10:22of Sebastian based in La Piedra Oscura.
10:26And they were like, okay, do you want to play this role?
10:30And I was like, well, yeah, let me, I need to read the script.
10:37No, no, no, we're doing the script right now for you.
10:40And I was like, okay, so I can say no.
10:43And I don't know, it's been like a very, it's been an incredible experience.
10:48Like, for someone that hasn't done this ever, to let yourself go and put yourself in the hands of these
10:57amazing directors, these cinema monsters, it's been a gift from heaven.
11:03Like, it takes you to a place where you have to leave a character in your own skin and suddenly
11:11try to find so many parallelisms with him to try and feel what he's feeling actually.
11:16And it's been a bonkers experience just to share all of these beautiful scenes, these beautiful paintings that you can
11:25see in this film with Penelope to share those minutes where you can find suddenly like a spark of hope
11:37in her character to share film with Miguel, with Carlos,
11:44Carlos, even though we don't share time in the screen, there's like these three stories that intertwine and have intertwined
11:52in real life.
11:52And I don't know, I'm so grateful for what they've done and their talent and the message of the film
11:59that I think it's very, it can be very helpful for younger generations in a way, for those who cannot
12:05live their lives freely in a way.
12:08And I think that's the most important thing to it.
12:19Miguel, as Raphael, you're kind of having to embody a real person who existed, who was one of Lorca's great
12:28loves.
12:28How did you research this? And what kind of conversations did you have with the Las Javis? Because there is
12:36so much to playing someone from such a legendary story.
12:41Yes, I felt a great sense of responsibility because he really existed. I didn't know about him, but the more
12:49I investigated, we investigated of him, the more I realized that he was a very well known person for some
12:59people and it really mattered to them as part of the story of Federico.
13:03So it was about studying, first we started with, they sent me so much stuff to read and movies to
13:11watch and a lot of stuff like letters from, one letter from Raphael to Federico, but there's really not much
13:18of Raphael that we know.
13:20So we just built on the facts, which was beautiful to do and then started to add some magic into
13:30it, like bringing a little bit of myself into it and a lot of what they wanted to include as
13:40interpretation of who he was because of the way he might write to Federico in that letter,
13:45trying to use poetry, trying to use poetry and expressing like that kind of want to get into the arts
13:51and to discover himself through Federico's figure and work.
13:54So we was, I mean, it has been a very cathartic experience to prepare this role with them, to work
14:02with them. They're incredible directors, creative beasts.
14:06So as an actor, it has been very like relieving to just get there and do these big scenes, big
14:14emotional scenes, trusting that the eye behind the lens is taking care of you.
14:20Yeah.
14:22Carlos.
14:24Hi.
14:25Hi.
14:25Hi.
14:26As Alberto in 2017, your timeline kind of serves to take us back and tie together the history of all
14:35of these three stories.
14:36And I was really interested in your scenes with Glenn Close because there's such a, it's such an overview of
14:45the importance of legacy.
14:47The conversations that the two characters have about history and family.
14:52And we saw in the clip Glenn saying, what's important is knowing who your grandfather was.
14:59And that's very liberating for Alberto.
15:03So can you speak to your experience on those scenes with Glenn Close?
15:07Well, first of all, I'd like to thank you for being here. It's beautiful to see how a film so
15:18important in this moment, just in this moment, is able to travel so much.
15:25And I think it's very important to bring people young to see this type of film and be able to
15:34sacudir some thoughts that are still very arraigated to customs a little bit.
15:44And with respect to the work with Glenn Close, it's a gift that they make me the Javis and the
15:53life.
15:54And I think that, in all these characters, I was really relaxed.
15:58Because I thought that a woman with all the characters, that all of us here have been able to enjoy,
16:12I had to have a great heart.
16:14because to make certain works I think we have to have a great heart.
16:20I was exactly the same when I met Penélope.
16:24She is a beautiful woman, both inside and outside,
16:28but above all, I've loved to meet her inside.
16:32For me, it's inevitable to think that great artists like her
16:36can do the work they do if they don't have humanity.
16:46Wow.
16:49Me estaba quedando muy bien en español.
16:52Ahora no sé si lo hará bien.
16:54Y eso, para terminar, fue un placer mirar a los ojos a Glenn Close,
17:03porque mirar a los ojos a Glenn Close es mirar a los ojos a Glenn Close.
17:11Oh my God.
17:16Unfortunately, we're out of time.
17:18I just wish that we could talk about this all day,
17:20because there's so much to this film to discuss.
17:23We've barely scratched the surface.
17:25Hopefully, I'll get to talk to you all again more in the future.
17:27And thank you all so much for being here.
17:30Congratulations on La Bola Negra.