By Jessica Herndon
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent filmmaking. While we can learn a lot about the filmmakers from the 2024 Sundance Film Festival through the art that these storytellers share with us, there's always more we can learn about them as people. This year, we decided to get to the bottom of those artistic wells with our ongoing series: Give Me the Backstory!
Sujo is a love letter for young people in trouble in Mexico, says Astrid Rondero of the stunning drama she co-directed and co-wrote with Fernanda Valadez. Equally tumultuous and sensitive, the film follows Sujo, a boy who becomes an orphan in Mexico at the age of 4 when his father, a cartel gunman, is killed. After his aunt takes him in and moves to the countryside, he must decide if he will continue to be haunted by his father's past and follow in his footsteps or forge his own path.
Sujo is a coming-of-age story of a boy turning into a man in a very harsh reality, says Rondero of the feature, which won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Despite being set in a specific context, we wanted Sujo to be about growing up, having a very conflictive father figure, and coming to terms with who you are. We believe we can all relate in one way or another to that experience.
The 2024 Sundance Film Festival isn't the first time Rondero and Valadez have worked on a Fest premiere that powerfully portrays the complexities of life in Mexico. Identifying Features (Sin Se as Particulares), which Valadez directed and co-wrote with Rondero, debuted at the 2020 Festival, where it won the audience award and a special jury award for best screenplay in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition. We were very fortunate that Identifying Features (Sin Se as Particulares) premiered at [the 2020 Sundance Film Festival] and received two awards, says Rondero, who has been collaborating with Valadez for 15 years. Returning to Sundance with Sujo feels like completing a cycle - a very happy one.
Below Rondero and Valadez discuss their filmmaking origins, how they came to name their film and its titular character, and being confronted with disheartening changes in the beloved state in Mexico where they filmed Sujo.
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