SILVER

Nature and nurture clash in this lyrical coming-of-age tale from directors Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez, the team behind IDENTIFYING FEATURES (2020 AFI LAFF). When his father is deemed a traitor and murdered by the very cartel he serves, four-year-old Sujo (Kevin Aguilar) is similarly marked for death — until his aunt (Yadira Pérez) successfully pleads for his life on the condition that he never return to his hometown in Michoacán. Years later, Sujo (now portrayed by Juan Jesús Varela) lives in poverty with his aunt and cousins until a rebellious urge overtakes him and he joins the local cartel, reigniting the fires that led to his father's untimely demise. Though set in the oft-depicted world of gang violence, SUJO approaches its subject in a tender manner that depicts grisly actions off-screen while accentuating the humanity of its characters. Visitations from ghostly apparitions add a dash of magic to this social-realist drama that firmly establishes Rondero and Valadez as among the preeminent filmmakers of contemporary Mexican cinema. Winner, World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic, 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Official Selection, 2024 Miami, Seattle film festivals. DIR/SCR/PROD Astrid Rondero, Fernanda Valadez; PROD Diana Arcega, Jean-Baptiste Bailly-Maitre, Virginie Devesa, Jewerl Keats Ross. Mexico/U.S./France, 2024, color, 126 min. In Spanish with English subtitles. NOT RATED

No AFI Member passes accepted.