After its Friday premiere, La bola negra earned a 9.4 audience rating at the Festival de Cine de San Sebastián 2026, securing the Premio del Público Ciudad de San Sebastián for best film. Its distributor will receive €50,000.
The prize comes from Perlak, the festival's audience competition sponsored by the city council. Viewers choose among the films shown in the section. The Festival de San Sebastián says the winner is decided at each competing film's first public screening, without a professional jury.
The margin was narrow: Naza finished behind with a score of 9.29. EFE confirmed La bola negra as the winner with a score of 9.40 after voting closed on Friday evening.
Naza also received the prize for best European title. The British film by Israeli authors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor deals with the killing of civilians in Gaza. The award carries €20,000.
Both sums go to the films' distributors, not directly to the directors. The Festival de San Sebastián says the €50,000 and €20,000 awards are gross amounts. The basic prize is intended for the film's distributor in Spain.
Perlak also featured films that had already drawn attention at the previous Cannes festival, including Fatherland by Pawel Pawlikowski and Fjord by Cristian Mungiu. La bola negra received the highest public score reported by the festival in a strong international field.
The film had attracted interest before its Friday opening. Earlier coverage had noted that interest, while Spanish outlets including RTVE and Público reported on its strong festival reception ahead of San Sebastián. The public vote gives that interest a clear result and a financial benefit for its distributor.
La ilusión de un verano sin fin by Argentine filmmaker Alessandra Sanguinetti won the Premio de la Juventud. Younger viewers gave a separate award, while Naza took the European title distinction.
Los Javis will collect the award at the Festival's closing gala, which falls during the first weekend of the film's run in Spanish cinemas. La bola negra leaves Perlak with the top public prize at the 74th festival, giving it a concrete boost before its theatrical release.
