Toto Forever

Toto Forever

Poster of the film
Directed by Roberto F. Canuto
Produced by Ana Menendez
Marielvy D'Apollo
Written by Roberto F. Canuto
Xu Xiaoxi
Starring Kylan James
Kjord Davis
Diana Grivas
Alexander Aguila
Alexandra Smothers
Music by Andrea Centazzo
Cinematography Xu Xiaoxi
Edited by Roberto F. Canuto
Xu Xiaoxi
Production
company
Almost Red Productions
Release dates
Running time
 14 minutes
Country Spain
United States
Language English

Toto Forever, also known in Spanish as Toto Para Siempre or Siempre Toto, is a 2010 drama short film directed by Roberto F. Canuto and written by Canuto and Xu Xiaoxi. The film participates in over 30 international film festivals, mainly of LGBT theme, winning awards including Best Film. It is considered Cult film in many circles, after becoming a Classic in the underground Gay Cinema with many screenings around the globe.[1][2]

Toto Forever is a fable in which the feelings and emotions are always fully exposed,[3] with a very poetic and symbolic narrative, and aesthetic with strong influences from the Yaoi ("Boys Love", a type of Japanese anime).[4] The film tells the love story between the young postman Toto, that dreams to start a new life, and the gangster Mark, that is in deep trouble with a mafia group. Even suffering all the adversity, Toto will never lose the "hope".

The film premiered at the 2010 Kashish Mumbai International Film Festival, first LGBT festival in India organised after "Delhi High Court court ruling decriminalised homosexual intercourse between consenting adults". Toto Forever was at the opening ceremony, being the first film ever screened at the event.[5] Also it was invited at the opening ceremony in Panama,[6] at the 3rd LesGayCinePTY, the most important gay film event in the country,[7] where it obtain the Best Film award.[8] At the South Asian Premier, in Indonesia's Q! Film Festival, the projections suffer serious incidents when radical Muslims demonstrators, from the "Islamic Defenders Front" and groups of extremist from the Indonesian University, attend the venue with weapons and demand to stop the projections, threaten with burn the cinemas.[9] Toto Forever screened in many other venues around the World, receiving other recognitions. like the nomination for Best Cinematography at the Kodak Scholarship awards in USA, 2009.[10]

Plot

While delivering a package, the young postman Toto (Kylan James) discovers an injured man laying next to an inground pool and tends to his wounds. Mark (Kjord Davis) is in trouble with the mob and the two men decide to flee together. While resting on the side of the road, Toto gazes longingly at the handsome fugitive. He touches the sleeping man's hand and leans over to kiss him... and is surprised when the kiss is returned.[11]

Cast

Production

Toto Forever director, Roberto F. Canuto, created the film as a graduation project at the New York Film Academy (NYFA) at the Universal Studios in Hollywood, but he finish the post-production after graduation, including the music of Andrea Centazzo. The film was the first collaboration of the director with the composer, that it was repeated in their next films, Desire Street and Ni Jing: Thou Shalt Not Steal. Duo to limitations in the production process, the script was reduced in various scenes. The director mention: "we reserve the full development of the plot for the feature script. Here we concentrate on feelings and emotion. For that reasson I wanted to develop a plot that displayed a wide range of emotions in a short period of time.".[12] Regarding this, the critic Michael D. Klemm mention: "A short film can be like a sketch for a painting and this one begins, appropriately, with rough drawings of the two leads. The emphasis here, undoubtedly, is what the young postman would remember from his abrupt adventure.[13]

The main idea behind the characters is based on cartoon figures from the japanese Yaoi. In the opening and closing credits the film uses artwork that represent the characters of Toto and Mark through sketches, bringing an added dimension to the story. Susan Opperman, a south African artist with an MFA in fine arts, creates these images, always following her own vision of the story.

The film was shot in 16mm Kodak film and the principal photography took place in the Summer 2008 in California. Some of the locations where the Munholland Drive and Burbank in California, together with some isolated roads outside Los Angeles. The postproduction was completed in 2010.

Xiaoxi Xu, usual collaborator of Roberto F. Canuto in the direction (Desire Street and Ni Jing: Thou Shalt Not Steal), was here the Director of Photography. The kissing scene between the characters is key in the film. According to the director, he "wanted to create a montage for the kissing scene. In order to do so, we decided to break standard time and space in order to create a special tempo that surprises the viewer and suspends the reality of the experience. The kissing scene was difficult to film due to the position of movement in such a tight space. This was key to delivering the right feel and emotion. Kylan and Kjord deliver a moving and touching scene that is also the zenith of the whole story."

The main theme in Toto Forever is hope. According to the director, he wanted to "recreate the moment when the human spirit recovers after a deep tragedy and rediscovers a "new faith about life".[14] Emily Dickinson's poem "Hope" was an inspiration for this film.[15][16] While she faced the tragedy, it was with this painful moments when she has to allowed herself to find “hope” and move on.

Toto Forever is still showing at international festivals as of July 2014, and the distribution rights worldwide, own by the company Almost Red Productions are still available.

Reception

The film was well received in the different film festivals and events where it was screened, including the award for Best Film at "LesGayCinePTY in Panamá 2010", Third Award for Best Short Film at the 6u CinegailesAST in Asturias (Spain), 2014), finalist at Kashish 1st Mumbai International Film Festival together with other selections and Opening Ceremonies in different Film Festivals. As July 2014 the film has being screened in over 30 international film festivals.

The press reactions were positive and the comments highlight the values of the film. Some of the reactions where:

Awards and nominations

(Awards won are in bold)

References

  1. ↑ Alan, Ariel (August 20, 2014). "El cine es el patrimonio cultural de nuestro país". www.cine.Universogay.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 August 2014. considerado ya un clásico del cine gay después de muchas selecciones en festivales internacionales y de su temática Yaoi, siendo una “Cult Movie” en algunos círculos.
  2. ↑ "Una Noche LGBTI inolvidable en Panamá". www.culturaprice.com (in Spanish). Cultura Price. Retrieved 1 August 2014. esta película de gran éxito internacional promete convertirse en uno de los nuevos clásicos del cine Gay
  3. ↑ "Toto Forever!". www.ohlalamag.com. OHLALAMAG. April 5, 2009. Retrieved 1 August 2014. Toto is a fable in which the feelings and emotions are always fully exposed
  4. ↑ "El film "Toto Forever" fue galardonado en el "LesGayCinePTY 2010" de Panamá". Torredembarra-fay.lacoctelera.net (in Spanish). 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2014. una estética poética y simbólica y un estilo cercano al “Yaoi” (o “Boys Love/Amor entre chicos”), que es una variante del animé japonés.
  5. ↑ "UNA COPRODUCCIÓN ESPAÑOLA ABRE EL FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DE CINE QUEER DE BOMBAY" (in Spanish). Like-gay.com. 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2014. ha tenido el honor de inaugurar las proyecciones.
  6. ↑ "Comienza "LesGayCinePTY", el Festival de Cine Gay y Lésbico de Panamá 2010" (in Spanish). Dosmanzanas.com. August 25, 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2014. En la ceremonia de apertura se proyectará el cortometraje español Toto Forever, dirigido en Hollywood por el asturiano Roberto F. Canuto
  7. ↑ "El film "Toto Forever" fue galardonado". torredembarra-gay.lacoctelera.net. 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2014. consolidando el evento como el más importante de temática LGBT de su país.
  8. ↑ "El film "Toto Forever" fue galardonado en el "LesGayCinePTY 2010" de Panamá". torredembarra-gay.lacoctelera.net (in Spanish). 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2014. El premio al mejor cortometraje recayó en “Toto Forever”, del español Roberto F. Canuto.
  9. ↑ "Q Film Festival atacado por radicales islamistas". SentidoG. October 5, 2010. El grupo que encabezó las protestas fue el “Islamic Defenders Front” (Frente de Defensores del Islam), junto a grupos de estudiantes de la Universidad de Indonesia. Los manifestantes demandaron la suspensión de las proyecciones y amenazaron con quemar los cines
  10. ↑ "Kodak Student Scholarship". motion.kodak.com. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  11. ↑ Klemm, Michael D. (July 2009). "City of Ghosts". www.cinemaqueer.com. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  12. ↑ "Toto Forever". Homoinmotion.tumblr.com. February 24, 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2014. we reserve the full development of the plot for the feature script. Here we concentrate on feelings and emotion. For that reasson I wanted to develop a plot that displayed a wide range of emotions in a short period of time.
  13. ↑ Klemm, Michael D. (July 2009). "City of Ghost". Cinemaqueer.com.
  14. ↑ "Toto Forever: Roberto F. Canuto". Homo in Motion. February 24, 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  15. ↑ Dickinson was troubled from a young age by the "deepening menace" of death, especially the deaths of those who were close to her
  16. ↑ "Emily Dickinson". Wikipedia.
  17. ↑ Klemm, Michael D. (July 2009). "City of Ghost". cinemaqueer.com. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  18. ↑ King, Dickie (January 2011). "Toto Forever (Review)". Movies-TOO-Gay. Archived from the original on January 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  19. ↑ "Una Noche LGBTI inolvidable en Panamá". culturapride.com. Cultura Pride. March 15, 2011. “Toto Forever” obtuvo buenas criticas (aunque yo no pude terminar de verla), esta película de gran éxito internacional promete convertirse en uno de los nuevos clásicos del cine Gay y esperamos muy ansiosamente ver la nueva película de su director Roberto Canuto.
  20. ↑ "Roberto F. Canuto, Director de Cine Y Guionista". elrollohigienico.com (in Spanish). September 30, 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2014. El deseo, la ruptura, el conflicto..., Toto Forever se posiciona en el drama, en lo extremo, en la fractura del joven protagonista para componer un mapa de sensaciones que revoca en la esperanza de aquello que existe más allá de las fronteras de la cotidianeidad.
  21. ↑ "They say, premiáu nel Festival CinegailesAST en Xixón" (in Asturianu (Dialect from Spain)). Asturias Mundial. February 3, 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2014. El Tercer Premio recayó también ex-aequo en los filmes Toto forever de Roberto F. Canuto
  22. ↑ "Finalist Films". http://www.mumbaiqueerfest.com''.
  23. ↑ "JAVIER MAQUA, PREMIU D'HONOR DEL 9U FESTIVAL DE CINE ASTURIANU 2014". www.asturies.com. June 15, 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2014. Los nominaos al Premiu al Meyor Curtiumetraxe són: La paciencia del cazador (Kiko y Javier Prada)... Ni jing/Nun robarás (Xu Xiaoxi y Roberto Canuto), Toto forever/Toto per siempre (Roberto Canuto)

External links