Spain's film academy has chosen "La bola negra" to carry the country's hopes of securing a new Oscar for best international feature, a feat achieved only four times in the history of the US awards, most recently thanks to Alejandro Amenábar's "Mar adentro" ("The Sea Inside") in 2005.
This ensemble drama about queer desire and repression, set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War and closely linked to the figure of Federico García Lorca, has already won the award for Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival after also competing for other prizes such as the Palme d'Or itself.
