The major festivals continue to smile upon French international sales agent Alpha Violet. After the 2023 Berlinale, with the competition entry Tótem [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Lila Avilés
scheda film] by Mexico’s Lila Avilés (her country’s candidate for the 2024 Oscar for Best International Film), and two titles from its line-up selected for Venice last year (Foremost by Night [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Víctor Iriarte
scheda film] by Spaniard Víctor Iriarte in the Giornate degli Autori and Hoard [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Luna Carmoon
scheda film] by Brit Luna Carmoon in the International Film Critics’ Week), it’s the Sundance Film Festival (18-28 January 2024) that’s now looking promising for Virginie Devesa and Keiko Funato’s team, thanks to two features that will be duking it out in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition: Sujo [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Mexico’s Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez, and In the Land of Brothers [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Raha Amirfazli, Alireza Gh…
scheda film] by Iranian duo Raha Amirfazli and Alireza Ghasemi.

After having scooped the Special Jury Prize for Best Screenplay and the Audience Award at Sundance in 2020 with her feature debut, Identifying Features [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], Fernanda Valadez directed Sujo with Astrid Rondero, her regular writing, editing and production partner. Their new opus, starring Juan Jesús Varela, Yadira Pérez, Alexis Varela, Sandra Lorenzano, Jairo Hernández and Kevin Aguilar, follows the trail of Sujo, the beloved four-year-old son of a cartel gunman from a small Mexican town. After the latter is murdered, Sujo is left an orphan and in danger. He narrowly escapes death with the help of his aunt, who raises him in the remote 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 forge 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. Branded by Virginie Devesa as the "Mexican Moonlight", the film was produced by Mexico’s Enaguas Cine, with France (Alpha Violet) and the USA (Jewerl Ross) on board as co-producers.

Alpha Violet will also have high hopes for In the Land of Brothers, the feature debut by Iran’s Raha Amirfazli and her fellow countryman Alireza Ghasemi. The story hinges on an extended family of Aghan refugees, who begin a new life in Iran under the shadow of the US invasion, unaware of the ultimate price expected of them as outliers in this (un)welcoming environment: they are Mohammad, a young teenager and promising student; Leila, a woman isolated by geography; and Qasem, who bears the weight of his family’s sacrifice. According to Virginie Devesa, “The film represents the various facets of the sacrifices endured by a community in exile and the strength it gives them.” Production duties were handled by French outfit Furyo Films (Adrien Barrouillet, Charles Meresse and Emma Binet), Iran’s Limited Circle (the filmmakers’ own company) and Dutch firm Baldr Film (Frank Hoeve), with Cinema Tehran serving as a co-producer.