Sujo tells a moving and unembellished story about the scars left by the Mexican drug war. Four-year-old Sujo barely escapes death after his father, who works as a hitman for a cartel, is murdered. Rescued by his aunt, the boy begins a new, uncertain existence burdened by loss, grief and violence. What at first sounds like another Mexican drug thriller turns out to be a sensitive coming-of-age story in a world that makes a normal childhood impossible. Usually most films about the drug wars in Mexico take the perspective of innocent victims or drug lords. But directors Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez go one step further and tell the story of an orphan coming from the world of the perpetrators. With an elegantly constructed screenplay depicting Sujo's subsequent life from different perspectives, the film examines the question of whether it is possible to escape the past. The film develops a far-sighted political dimension without relying solely on documentary means. Sujo is first and foremost an engaging, intelligent and mythically charged cinema that always believes in humanity, even in places where it seems to be absent. The film won the World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
Director: Astrid Rondero, Fernanda Valadez Screenplay: Astrid Rondero, Fernanda Valadez Length: 125 min. Language: Spanish OF / English UT Country of production: Mexico, France, USA Production: Enaguas Cine, Jewerl Ross, Diana Arcega, Jean-Baptiste Bailly-Maitre Cast: Juan Jesús Varela, Yadira Pérez, Alexis Varela, Sandra Lorenzano, Jairo Hernández, Kevin Aguilar Festivals: Sundance, Gothenburg, Cartagena, Minneapolis, Jerusalem, Melbourne, San Sebastián, London Awards: Sundance Grand Jury Prize, Sofia, Toulouse, Ajaccio, San Sebastián Co-Production Prize