Shot on a production grant of just €200,000 ($234,000) and developed under intense time pressure, “Tijuana, Todavía” has earned a slot at the 83rd Venice Film Festival, where it is competing for the Queer Lion.
Mexican filmmaker Gabriel Gutiérrez Morales was given only three weeks to write the screenplay and outline a production schedule. Over the course of 10 months, he and producer Humberto Busto—known for “Amores Perros”—managed to develop, shoot, and complete the feature through the Biennale College – Cinema training program. Despite the minimal resources, Busto described the process as “a very joyful experience.”
The narrative is set in the northern Mexican border town of Tijuana and traces the complex relationship between Maksim, a young queer man who fled Russia to avoid conscription in the war with Ukraine, and Chava, a middle-aged gay man navigating Northern Mexican machismo culture. Busto also portrays Chava in the film.
Busto emphasized the timeliness of the project, noting that “Tijuana, Todavía” speaks directly to the current situation in Russia and the consequences of queer migration to countries like Mexico. “This experience of displacement and reinvention at the border is the core identity of the film,” he said. He added that as queer filmmakers, they feel compelled to counter constant threats to their community by establishing dialogue through cinema.
The film’s emergence comes amid broader concerns for LGBTQ+ representation in international cinema, particularly after the Italian Ministry of Culture announced it would no longer support the Queer Lion award, ending a 20-year partnership.
Gutiérrez Morales explained that his decision to set the story at the U.S.-Mexico border stemmed from his desire to show a side of Tijuana that is rarely depicted. “Especially since Trump’s presidency, it’s often portrayed almost like a war zone. What you rarely get to see is the border from the other side,” the director said, noting that Tijuana is where he grew up.
The script was partly inspired by the director’s personal experiences. Shortly after coming out, Gutiérrez Morales found safety in online communities, forming a decade-long friendship with a gay man from St. Petersburg, Russia. This connection proved crucial during casting; the team needed a Russian actor in Mexico to play Maksim.
Serendipity struck when they found Petr Filimonov, whose life mirrored the fictional character. Filimonov had been arrested for opposing the Ukraine war and, being gay, faced additional danger, forcing him to flee after his family secured his release. He now lives in Mexico.
“In our second interview with him, Petr was visibly emotional, with tears in his eyes. He said: ‘I’m Maksim. I’ve traveled all this way because this is a story you wrote, without even knowing me,’” Busto recalled. Filimonov also brought professional acting experience, having studied for four years in Russia.
Real-life parallels extended to the film’s depiction of the Casa de Luz refugee shelter. The founder’s personal story closely matched the plot: she had fallen in love with a Russian man who arrived at the shelter in circumstances similar to the film’s protagonist. After his deportation to Egypt by the Trump administration, she spent months tracking him across Egypt, Turkey, the Philippines, and Thailand. The couple married and reunited just days before filming began.
“Tijuana, Todavía” is produced by Fosfo Producciones and distributed in Mexico by Colmena. The cast also includes Miry Rodríguez, Dilan Rivera, Elliot Roy Rensky, and Jorge Domínguez Cerdá.
The real-life parallels between the actors and characters are genuinely moving. Cinema at its most powerful.
Competing for the Queer Lion with only €200,000? That proves passion beats big budgets every time.