BORDERLINES FILM FESTIVAL 2025

DIRECTOR: Astrid Rondero, Fernanda Valadez
STARRING: Juan Jesús Varela, Yadira Pérez, Alexis Varela
MEXICO/FRANCE/US, 2024, 2 HOURS 5 MINUTES, ENGLISH + SPANISH SUBTITLES

This coming of age story from filmmaking duo Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez offsets the violence we come to expect from films set in contemporary Mexico.

Son of a murdered sicario (hitman) in a Mexico blighted by drug cartels, Sujo grows up with his aunts and cousins in semi-hiding in the countryside. Moving to the city as a young man, Sujo meets a teacher, Susan, who provides him with care, protection and the motivation to escape his destiny, that relentless tug into a macho world where the cycle of violence is toxic.

Delicate, precise framing enables us to view events through Sujo’s eyes as he grows and it’s these elegiac moments that stick.

Grand Jury Prize, Sundance Film Festival 2024