Last year a group of friends had an idea to tell a modern day story of queer love. The story became a proof of concept short film, TABOO, featuring real life couple Henry Jimenez and Kasey Kerbox.
TABOO’s story focuses on a Mexican street vendor, Enrique, who meets an American tourist, Kasey, and their relationship quickly flourishes into love and passion. The story delves into the harsh realness that class, language, and culture separates us too often, but proves that these are not enough to impede the heart’s desires. The story captures the ways this generation is interacting in today’s world. Young relationships, in love, with free, open sexuality and more stripped of social stereotypes, inequalities and old customs that we inherit from a world that is less and less current. While this is a story of two unlikely lovers, the third character is Mexican scenery that lends its picturesque backdrop of Tulum for the playground in which these two lovers find themselves.
Since TABOO was released on YouTube in August 2020, the love story has become viral, gaining over 1.8 million views to date.
Kerbox is a model and photographer. Jimenez is an actor and photographer who you may recognize from the video that went viral when he shared with his mom that he was engaged to his boyfriend and she not only rejects him, but berates him and leaves him sobbing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7-X2B8IAUw
Guillermo Nuñez, the director of TABOO, is a Mexican producer and director currently living in Canada. He has worked and collaborated with international models and personalities from Mexico and Canada. He is set to produce and direct his first film, TABOO. It has consolidated a team of people who believe in the vision and relevance of this project. Guillermo’s goal for TABOO is to build a community that unites generations of filmmakers – combining experience with passion and drive.
Due to the overwhelming response with TABOO’s short film, this love story is on its way to becoming a full-length film.
“We never expected the enormous enthusiasm and the amount of comments asking to see more”, says Nuñez, “We have decided to take this dream to the next level, but to do so in a responsible and revolutionary way.”
Through independent cinema, TABOO seeks to inspire the paradigm shift. The project aims to reflect on new, inclusive, contemporary, and dignifying narratives of underrepresented individuals. This is more than an LGBTQ+ project, it explores our roots, and places the struggles of pigmentocracy front and center, while amplifying the beauty of diversity.
“We have also realized the enormous abysses of opportunities that exist between countries, races and social classes and we decided not to be indifferent,” Nuñez says, “We want to put privilege at the service of all. That is why an important part of our production includes local people, either working or learning, but collaborating to form a trade. It [also] goes without saying that a QUEER story has to be told by people from the community.”
The production team has built a foundation for the film. The team is assembled, and has accomplished a lot up to this point. But now the production needs some support to bring TABOO to life.
A Kickstarter campaign is nearing its end and there is a long way to go to help fund the remaining production of the film.
By supporting TABOO on Kickstarter you become part of their network, their audience, and the reason for making the film. You will be among the first to know when TABOO enters production, wraps primary photography, proceeds to the cutting room, and finally, when the film becomes available to you! Production is also still open and looking for collaborations, including investors and above all donors who contribute the best they can.
https://youtu.be/FP8SQ3WQ7l0
Support TABOO and help tell this story of queer love.
Es muy importante apoyar a nuestros cineastas. Estoy seguro que esta será una gran película, que permitirá a todos los involucrados crecer como los talentos mexicanos que tanto necesitamos. Estaré dando seguimiento a todos los pormenores de ella, así como del director.