Humberto Busto brings gay desire to Venice at the age of 50

Humberto Busto, a member of Mexico’s LGBTQ+ community, will bring his new film Tijuana, todavía to the Venice International Film Festival, marking a significant step in representing older gay men in cinema. The film, which Busto both produces and stars in, follows a man nearing 50 who works at a car wash and connects with a Russian queer man through a dating app. It will premiere at the festival and compete for the Queer Lion Award, a prize recognizing LGBTQ+-themed films. The film explores themes of aging, identity, and survival within a predominantly heterosexual environment. Busto, 48, has long criticized how mainstream LGBTQ+ narratives often focus on young, attractive bodies, neglecting the experiences of middle-aged individuals. He argues that this exclusion reflects broader societal attitudes toward aging and sexuality. “The majority of projects sold from an industrial perspective are stories of love between young people, twenty-somethings, with incredible, slim bodies because they become very erotic,” he told El Universal. “I feel that within the LGBTQ+ collective there is this idea that aging carries weight because, like everything else, it's tied to sexuality as human beings.” Tijuana, todavía was developed and produced under the Biennale College Cinema program, a training initiative launched by the Venice Film Festival in 2012 to support emerging filmmakers. Busto worked alongside director Gabriel Gutiérrez Morales, navigating challenges such as explaining the nuances of queer-coded content to non-LGBTQ+ advisors. One example was explaining how apps like Grindr function and how users can unexpectedly meet strangers. “We spent almost an hour explaining how Grindr works and how someone could suddenly go to someone’s house they didn’t know,” Busto recalled. “They saw it as plot holes, but we had to justify it. When they finally watched the film, they were fascinated.” Finding the Russian actor, Petr Filimonov, proved difficult. Initially, the team sought a queer actor with a history of exile due to being openly gay. They eventually found Filimonov, who fled Russia after the government discovered his sexuality and threatened to send him to fight in Ukraine. His participation adds a layer of political and personal complexity to the narrative. The film joins a growing trend in Mexican cinema addressing diverse ages and masculine spaces. Similar films include En el camino, directed by David Pablos, which won the Queer Lion Award last year, and Jaripeo, a documentary set to screen at the upcoming Morelia International Film Festival. Busto noted that while older generations like himself and Pablos advocate for more nuanced storytelling, younger filmmakers are exploring different themes and styles. Despite facing challenges in the industry, Busto has not encountered discrimination based on his sexual orientation in his career. He has held key roles in television series and continues to work as a director and writer. His involvement in Tijuana, todavía underscores a commitment to expanding representation beyond traditional boundaries. As the Venice Film Festival approaches, the film stands as a hopeful contribution to ongoing conversations about aging, identity, and inclusivity in cinema.