The Spanish Film Academy has shortlisted three movies to represent Spain in the Best International Feature Film category at the 2027 Academy Awards.
Filmmakers Rodrigo Sorogoyen, the duo Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, and Alauda Ruiz de Azua directed the three preselected productions. Members of the national film academy will now vote during the second phase of the selection process to decide which picture will serve as Spain's official candidate in Hollywood.
The academy will announce its final verdict on September 16. All three films reached the Oscar shortlist after standing out at film festivals and throughout the Spanish theatrical season.
The shortlisted feature films
Director Rodrigo Sorogoyen helmed the preselected drama El ser querido. The story focuses on the complicated relationship between a film director and his daughter.
Actors Javier Bardem and Victoria Luengo star as the leads in the film. Screenwriter Isabel Peña co-wrote the project with Sorogoyen, continuing a long creative collaboration. The creative pair previously earned critical acclaim for the suspense thriller As Bestas, which won nine Goya Awards, as well as the political drama The Realm.
Bardem won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for No Country for Old Men and received Oscar nominations for Before Night Falls, Biutiful, and Being the Ricardos. Luengo previously starred in Sorogoyen's police drama series Antidisturbios.
Directors Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, known collectively in Spain as Los Javis, submitted La bola negra. Their picture offers a distinctive cinematic perspective on the final years of Spanish poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca.
Lorca stands as one of Spain's most celebrated literary figures of the 20th century. He wrote landmark dramatic works such as Blood Wedding and The House of Bernarda Alba before his death during the Spanish Civil War in 1936. Ambrossi and Calvo previously gained international recognition as the creators of acclaimed television series including La Veneno, Paquita Salas, and La Mesias.
Director Alauda Ruiz de Azua directed the third shortlisted production, Los domingos. Her film centers on a teenage girl navigating personal and religious anxieties. Ruiz de Azua established herself as a major talent in Spanish cinema with her debut feature Lullaby, which won the Goya Award for Best New Director.
Streaming and cinema release dates
Spanish viewers looking to catch the contenders ahead of the decision have several options across theaters and digital platforms.
Moviegoers can already stream Los domingos in Spain on Movistar Plus+.
El ser querido opened in Spanish movie theaters on August 26. Following the conclusion of its theatrical exclusivity window, the drama will stream on Movistar Plus+.
La bola negra will premiere in Spanish cinemas on September 25. Movistar Plus+ has not yet confirmed a domestic streaming release date for the film. In the United States and Canada, Netflix will release the picture on December 2, 2026.
Spain's path to the Oscars
The Spanish Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences selects Spain's official entry for Hollywood each year. Based in Madrid, the academy also organizes the annual Goya Awards, Spain's principal national film honors.
The Academy Awards, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles, feature the Best International Feature Film award to honor feature motion pictures produced outside the United States with predominantly non-English dialogue.
Spanish film academy members are reviewing the three candidates ahead of the final vote on September 16, when Spain's official representative for the 2027 Oscar race will be revealed.
