Toto Forever

An innocent postman and a mafia-marked gangster
find each other in a fleeting, impossible love.

Technical Details | Toto Forever | Short Film

Original title: Toto Forever
International title: Toto Forever
Written and directed by: Roberto F. Canuto
Produced by: Ana Menéndez, Marielvy D’Apollo
Cinematography: Roberto F. Canuto
Music: Andrea Centazzo
Cast: Kylan James, Kjord Davis, Diana Grivas, Alex Aguila, Alexandra Smothers
 USA, Spain  2010  14’ 04"  color

 english  spanish, english, french

 fiction, drama  LGBTQ+, mystery, identity, yaoi, BL

 DCP · Digital HD · 1.85:1

SYNOPSIS

While delivering a package, Toto, a young postman lost in daydreams of freedom and love, discovers an injured man lying beside a swimming pool. The stranger, Mark, , is in serious trouble with the mob.

United by danger and desire, they flee together along the open road. But their brief escape turns into a fable about love, loss and uncertainty.

 
COMMENTARY

Toto Forever is a poetic and symbolic short film by Spanish filmmaker Roberto F. Canuto, shot on Super 16mm as part of his projects at the New York Film Academy in Hollywood. The film blends romantic drama, crime, and fantasy to tell a universal story about courage and emotional truth.

Strongly influenced by the aesthetics and narrative of Japanese yaoi (Boys’ Love), the film combines direct storytelling with characters that evoke an almost comic-like style. It transforms a tragic love story into a visual fable about purity, desire, and transcendence. It portrays a moment suspended in time, in which the human spirit, after loss, manages to recover and rediscover faith in life and in love.

Premiered at the first Kashish Mumbai International Film Festival—India’s first LGBTQ+ film festival following the decriminalization of homosexuality—Toto Forever opened the event and was subsequently screened at more than thirty international film festivals worldwide.

AWARDS & SPECIAL MENTIONS

OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

Title Toto Forever / Toto para siempre
Format Short film
Genre fiction, drama
Themes romance, lgbtq+, mystery, yaoi (bl)
Country USA, Spain
Language english
Written and directed by Roberto F. Canuto
Year 2010
Running time 14 min
Awards Audience Award – Best Short Film – 3rd edition LesGayCinePTY International Film Festival (Panama, 2010)
Third Prize – Best Short Film – 6th edition CinegaylesAST, Gay and Lesbian Film Festival of Asturias (Spain, 2014)
Nominee – Best Cinematography – Kodak Scholarship Awards (USA, 2009)
Nominee – Best International Short Film – 1st edition Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival (India, 2010)
Opening Film – 1st edition Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival (India, 2010)
Nominee – Best Short Film – 9th edition Asturian Film Festival (Spain, 2014)
Official Selections 7th edition OutfestPerú – International LGBT Film Festival (Peru, 2010)
11th edition Mezipatra Queer Film Festival (Czech Republic, 2010)
9th edition Q! Film Festival (Indonesia, 2010)
4th edition Libercine International Film Festival (Argentina, 2010)
13th edition FanCineGay – International LGBT Film Festival of Extremadura (Spain, 2010)
6th edition LesGayBiTrans – Paraguay LGBT Film Festival of Asunción (Paraguay, 2010)
8th edition El Lugar Sin Límites – International LGBT Film Festival (Ecuador, 2010)
3rd edition Cine 2.0 LGBT Film Festival, Santiago (Chile, 2010)
1st edition Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival (India, 2010)
14th edition Mix Mexico – International Sexual Diversity Film Festival (Mexico, 2010)
10th edition Ciclo Rosa – International LGBT Film Festival, Bogotá (Colombia, 2010)
3rd edition GLBT La Paz – International Film Festival (Bolivia, 2010)
3rd edition MIX-MTY – Festival of Sexual Diversity, Monterrey (Mexico, 2010)
5th edition Festival Cultural de la Diversidad Sexual, Zacatecas (Mexico, 2010)
3rd edition LesGayCinePTY International Film Festival (Panama, 2010)
7th edition SFG – Serile Filmului Gay International Film Festival (Romania, 2010)
13th edition CARI San José LGBT Film Showcase (Costa Rica, 2010)
11th edition Rainbow Reels Queer Film Festival (Canada, 2011)
2nd edition Desperado LGBTQ+ Film Festival, Phoenix (USA, 2011)
3rd edition Merlinka International Queer Film Festival (Serbia, 2011)
13th edition Thessaloniki LGBT Cultural Panorama – Film Festival (Greece, 2011)
3rd edition BQFF – Bangalore Queer Film Festival (India, 2011)
6th edition Festival del Sol – Canary Islands International LGBT Film Festival (Spain, 2011)
2nd edition Festival de la Luna – Valencia International LGBT Film Festival (Spain, 2011)
6th edition Festival del Mar – Majorca International LGBT Film Festival (Spain, 2011)
4th edition Cape Winelands Film Festival (South Africa, 2011)
3rd edition Festival Patagónico por la Diversidad Sexual, El Bolsón (Argentina, 2011)
6th edition CinegaylesAST – Gay and Lesbian Film Festival of Asturias (Spain, 2014)
9th edition Asturian Film Festival (Spain, 2014)