Sujo
Sujo’s childhood is marked by devastating events. Now a teenager, he is forced to choose between repeating his family's history or breaking free from unwanted heritage. A humanistic and hopeful tale of alternative paths to violence.
Director Fernanda Valadez scheduled to attend.
Four-year-old Sujo (Kevin Aguilar) is left orphaned when his father, a sicario, is brutally murdered. He is left in the care of his aunt, who makes it her mission to protect him from drug traffickers and takes Sujo to live with her in an isolated house in the mountains. They are safe there for a few years, but when Sujo, now a teenager (Juan Jesús Varela) realizes the tentacles of the cartels are almost inescapable, he is forced to migrate to the capital and start a new life. When he settles in Mexico City, everything seems to work out—he gets a job, attends classes, and begins a friendship with a university professor. Then one day, an old friend from the gang back home shows up asking for his help. Sujo, written and directed by Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez (Identifying Features) brings a breath of fresh air to themes widely addressed in cinema and the media—the brutal cycle of violence transmitted from generation to generation, and a fatal heritage hard to get rid of. But Rondero and Valadez choose to tell a different story, a more humanistic and hopeful tale of alternative paths to violence.
- Director: Astrid Rondero, Fernanda Valadez
- Principal Cast: Juan Jesús Varela, Yadira Pérez, Alexis Varela, Sandra Lorenzano, Jairo Hernández
- Country: Mexico, France, USA
- Year: 2024
- Running Time: 125 min.
- Producer: Enaguas Cine
- Screenplay: Astrid Rondero, Fernanda Valadez
- Cinematographers: Ximena Amann
- Editors: Astrid Rondero, Susan Korda, Fernanda Valadez
- Music: Astrid Rondero
- Website: Official Film Website
- Awards: Sundance Film Festival 2024 (World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic), Sofia International Film Festival 2024 (Grand Jury Prize)
- Filmography: Rondero: Identifying Features (2020), The Darkest Days of Us (2017); Valadez: Identifying Features (2020)
- Language: Spanish
- Has Subtitles: Yes
- International Sales: Alpha Violet