So many coming-of-age dramas pass through the Sundance Film Festival that it’s tough to stand out. But that wasn’t a problem for Sujo, which won the World Cinema Jury Award. Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez’s film has continued to impress on the festival circuit throughout the year, but now it’s only days away from coming to a theater near you.
Starring Juan Jesús Varela, Sujo centers on the titular boy, son of a Mexican cartel gunman, who struggles with the aftermath of his father’s assassination. After joining a cartel himself, Sujo soon tries to get away from a life of crime and the cycle of violence.
Also in the cast are Yadira Perez, Alexis Varela, Jairo Hernández, Sandra Lorenzano, Kevin Aguilar, and Karla Garrido.
The film was directed and written by Rondero and Valadez, but the pair went further by producing and editing the film. Rondero also composed the music. A true labor of love that Mexico has recognized by selecting it as their submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature.
SYNOPSIS: After a cartel gunman from a small Mexican town is murdered, Sujo, his beloved four-year-old son, is left an orphan and in danger. Sujo narrowly escapes death with the help of his aunt who raises him in the isolated countryside amidst hardship, poverty, and the constant peril associated with his identity. When he enters his teens a rebelliousness awakens in him, and like a rite of passage, he joins the local cartel. As a young man, Sujo attempts to make his life anew, away from the violence of his hometown. However, when his father’s legacy catches up with him, he will come face-to-face with what seems to be his destiny.
Sujo opens in theaters on December 6th.
