Mexico City Watchlist: 7 Sundance Festival Films Written by Women

[Pictured: A still from Sujo]

By Stephanie Ornelas

There are so many stories and layers to be told within Ciudad de M xico, Paloma Riojas says over Zoom. The screenwriter/producer has a special place in her heart for Mexico City. Having lived and worked there, she knows that the city's film scene is hungry and ready for more. Later this month, the first edition of Sundance Film Festival CDMX will take place, in partnership with Cin polis, ready to expand the global community of independent filmmakers and film lovers.

A diverse and vibrant city, CDMX has been the hub of Mexican independent storytelling for decades and, in the runup to the Festival, we're highlighting Institute-supported stories centered on Mexico City.

Mexico City is such a rich environment to share stories and to have things written because it is like Los Angeles, explains Riojas. It has the gamut of perspectives and experiences that showcase the broad spectrum of how many different lives are being lived all at the same time in that rich and highly populated place.

Riojas' short film Nana, which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival as part of the Sundance Institute Short Film Challenge, is one of seven projects written by women that we're spotlighting today.

Something that's often discussed is how Latine women filmmakers are still grappling with gender inequity and sourcing funding for their projects. Women storytellers are working tirelessly to change that, and the needle is definitely moving. Last year, for the first time ever, women dominated the nominations for Best Director at the Ariel Awards (Mexican Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences). And just this past January at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, writer-directors Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic for their film Sujo.

[Stories written by women] can be universal, but they're also wholly unique. It's very important, and needed, to highlight stories written by women and to open up spaces for that to happen, adds Riojas.

Before we journey to Mexico City on April 25 to showcase 12 features and 10 Mexican shorts at Cin polis Diana and Cin polis VIP Miyana, explore the following Sundance-supported films based in Mexico City that were written by women.

LINK:	https://www.sundance.org/blogs/mexico-city-watchlist-7-sundance-festiv...
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