New York's biggest LGBTQ+ film festival is opening its 38th edition with a genuine awards-season heavyweight. NewFest announced that “La Bola Negra,” the Spanish drama that just won the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, will open the festival on October 15, with organizers hosting the film's official New York City premiere.
According to NBC New York, NewFest describes itself as New York's preeminent LGBTQ+ film festival, and this year's lineup spans 144 films submitted from 23 different countries, with select titles also available to stream. The festival runs 11 days across venues in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, and organizers say a large share of the selected films come from women, non-binary, trans and two-spirit filmmakers. Tickets go on sale today, September 21, at 11 a.m.
“La Bola Negra,” directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, is an epic that follows the interconnected lives of three gay men in Spain across different eras, according to CBC. The film is inspired by an unfinished Federico García Lorca story and stars singer-songwriter Guitarricadelafuente, with appearances by Penélope Cruz and Glenn Close, as reported by the New York Times.
A Cannes and Toronto Double Win
“La Bola Negra” premiered in May at the Cannes Film Festival, where Calvo and Ambrossi shared the Best Director honor, before going on to win the People's Choice Award at TIFF this past Sunday, per the Times. The Toronto win carries weight beyond the trophy itself — Variety notes that the audience award is largely seen as an indicator of legs on the road to the Oscars stage.
The film's Oscar path is already underway. Spain's film academy selected “La Bola Negra” as its official candidate for the international-feature Oscar category, the outlet El País reports. Per El País, the shortlist of 15 international-feature contenders is scheduled for announcement December 15, with the five nominees to be revealed January 21, 2027.
Netflix acquired the film out of Cannes and has since launched a full awards campaign around it, per the same CBC report. The streamer has set the film for theaters on October 16 and streaming beginning December 2, according to CBC — though El País has separately reported a September 25 cinema release, without specifying whether that date applies to a different territory.
Closing Night and a Dolly Parton Tribute
NewFest's closing-night film will be “The Man I Love,” directed by Ira Sachs and starring Rami Malek, Rebecca Hall and Tom Sturridge. The 1980s-set drama follows an artist's window between sickness and mortality. Elsewhere in the lineup, the festival will screen “Clarissa,” an adaptation of Virginia Woolf's “Mrs. Dalloway,” and “Club Kid,” directed by first-time filmmaker Jordan Firstman.
The 2026 slate also includes screenings of “9 to 5” and “Steel Magnolias,” alongside a tribute to Dolly Parton. Nick McCarthy, NewFest's director of programming, said the lineup reflects the vibrancy and vastness of the community on a local and global scale.
A Global Field, Told From Toronto
For context on the caliber of this year's festival circuit, TIFF's International People's Choice Award — a separate prize from the one “La Bola Negra” won — went to “Elsinore,” directed by Simon Stone and starring Andrew Scott, according to the Times. NewFest's 38th edition, and its high-profile opening night pick, arrives as that same festival season is still generating awards buzz worldwide.
