SUJO World Cinema

Screening to be followed by a conversation with filmmaker Fernanda Valadez.

Nature and nurture clash in this lyrical coming-of-age tale from directors Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez (IDENTIFYING FEATURES), which won the World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. When his father is branded a traitor and murdered by the very cartel he serves, four-year-old Sujo is similarly marked for death — until his aunt (Yadira Pérez) successfully pleads for his life on the condition that he never return to his hometown in Michoacán. Years later, Sujo is living in poverty with his aunt and cousins when a rebellious urge leads him to the local cartel, reigniting the fires that led to his father’s untimely demise. Though set against a backdrop of stark gang violence, SUJO approaches this subject in a tender manner that depicts grisly actions off screen while accentuating the humanity of its characters. Visitations from ghostly apparitions add a dash of magic to this social-realist drama that firmly situates Rondero and Valadez on the vanguard of contemporary Mexican cinema. –Javier Chavez