‘A Bola Negra’, one of the most anticipated releases of the end of 2026, arrives in Portuguese cinemas on Thursday, 5 November, according to the culture suggestions segment on Observador’s Pop Up. The Spanish film is directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, known as the two Javis, and runs for two and a half hours. It draws on an unfinished play by Federico García Lorca that gives the film its title.
Set from the beginning of the Spanish Civil War through to the 21st century, the film is described as an epic that is also a love story and a story about the persecution and ostracism of homosexuals. The title refers to the black ball used to reject a person from a place because he is homosexual, in the context of the Spanish Civil War. Contributors praised the photography and the scale of the production, and suggested the film could be an awards contender; they also noted that its song, performed by singer and cast member Guitarricat de la Fuente, is a candidate for an Oscar nomination for best song.
Among the television recommendations, Pedro Boucher Mendes highlighted ‘Phony’, a Disney+ series with Connie Britton in the lead and Sam Neill as her son. Set in an American high school, it follows a mother and son after the son is involved in a car accident; when the mother wakes from a coma, she appears to be another person, although played by the same actress through digital manipulation. The programme said three episodes were available at the time of recording. Boucher Mendes also recommended ‘Tony’ on Prime, a film about Anthony Bourdain’s early years, based on his book ‘Kitchen Confidential’. It follows a young Bourdain trying to win a writing grant and then working in a restaurant in Massachusetts, and includes the detail that his mother worked at The New Yorker.
Bruno Vieira Amaral recommended Dan Wang’s ‘Velocidade Vertiginosa: A ambição da China de entregar o futuro à engenharia’, published by Relógio d’Água. The book examines how China mobilises engineers, the state, capital and labour to build infrastructure, and contrasts that with the US and Europe, where problems are met with regulation and debate. He also recommended Ann Patchett’s ‘Whistler’, published in Portugal by Particular, which begins with a woman reuniting with her stepfather at a New York museum after decades apart.
Vieira Amaral also discussed the Netflix documentary about Matthew Perry, three years after the actor’s death. The three-episode documentary relies heavily on testimony from Perry’s sister and friends; Jennifer Aniston and Courtney Cox decided not to take part. The contributor described it as a moving human case about addiction but argued that Perry’s artistic story was limited. He also presented ‘Sexo, Ciência e Censura, as Verdades Tabu da Guerra de Gênero’, by Peggy Sastre and Leonardo Orlando and published by Guerra e Paz, which argues that sex has a biological basis and that gender, while also cultural, should not be treated solely as a construction.
Finally, Vieira Amaral recommended Shakespeare’s ‘Measure for Measure’, staged by Companhia de Teatro de Almada at Teatro Municipal Joaquim Benite in Almada during November. He said he had not yet seen the production at the time of recording.
Sources: Observador.