[Pictured: A still from Sujo]

By Stephanie Ornelas 

“There are so many stories and layers to be told within Ciudad de México,” 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 Cinépolis, 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 Cinépolis Diana and Cinépolis VIP Miyana, explore the following Sundance-supported films based in Mexico City that were written by women.  

Red Dawn (Rojo Amanecer) — 1991 Sundance Film Festival

Jorge Fons’ drama, which was co-written by Guadalupe Ortega and Xavier Robles, addresses the massacre of more than 400 students by the Mexican army at Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Mexico City in 1968. Following a middle-class family who live in the Tlatelolco Housing complex that overlooks the plaza, the film explores the atrocities committed by military forces. Red Dawn (Rojo Amanecer) screened in the “Images of Mexico and Latin America” section at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival. 

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Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck were inspired to make “Sugar” after reading about the rising number of Dominican athletes who go to the U.S. to play baseball.

By Lucy Spicer

Spring has sprung, the birds are singing, and every new bloom is a reminder to celebrate the good things that come around every year. For indie-film lovers, that includes commemorating the dates when some of our favorite Sundance-supported titles received wide releases.

We’ve pulled an intriguing variety of films with April birthdays for the list below. This month’s offerings feature a 1970s summer coming-of-age story, a darkly funny Christmastime drug deal gone wrong, a crime ring led by high school overachievers, a Dominican baseball player at spring training in the U.S., and a nonfiction investigation into a mysterious death in the Arizona desert.

The Inkwell (1994) — It’s the summer of 1976: The U.S. is preparing to celebrate its bicentennial, and 16-year-old Drew (Larenz Tate) is still reeling from having accidentally set fire to his family’s garage. Drew’s parents, Kenny (Joe Morton) and Brenda (Suzzanne Douglas), worry about their shy son’s behavior, but a trip to see some estranged wealthy relatives on Martha’s Vineyard provides plenty of distractions. For one, Kenny, a former Black Panther, is constantly at odds with Drew’s staunchly Republican aunt and uncle. Meanwhile, Drew awkwardly attempts to make friends and pursue the elusive Lauren (Jada Pinkett Smith). The Inkwell, named after the moniker for the Martha’s Vineyard Black beach community, is director Matty Rich’s (Straight of out Brooklyn) second feature. Check here for viewing options.

Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

Go (1999) — Soap actors Adam (Scott Wolf) and Zack (Jay Mohr) are in the market for some ecstasy, but their usual hookup, Simon (Desmond Askew), is off on a Las Vegas romp. Hoping to collect enough cash to stave off eviction, Simon’s teenage co-worker Ronna (Sarah Polley) offers her assistance. But nothing is quite as it seems in director Doug Liman’s high-energy third feature. Part dark comedy, part crime film, part road trip adventure, Go features an ensemble cast (including Taye Diggs, Katie Holmes, Timothy Olyphant, William Fichtner, and Jane Krakowski, among others) that comes together to tell a multi-POV story full of uproarious twists and turns. Check here for viewing options.

Better Luck Tomorrow (2003) — On the surface, Ben Manibag (Parry Shen) fulfills the stereotype of the overachieving Asian American suburban high schooler: His grades are good, he’s on the basketball team, and he has plans to attend an Ivy League college. What’s a little petty crime with his friends Virgil (Jason Tobin) and Han (Sung Kang in the first appearance of his Fast & Furious franchise character) to blow off some steam? But pe

Mexico City, April 2nd, 2024 – Cinépolis, the leading theatrical exhibition company in Mexico and Latin America, and the Sundance Institute, the nonprofit organization behind the world-famous Sundance Film Festival whose year-round work is dedicated to the discovery and development of independent artists and audiences, announced the 12 feature films and the Mexican short film program that will comprise the inaugural program of the Sundance Film Festival CDMX 2024. The showcase will take place from April 25th to 28th at Cinépolis Diana and Cinépolis VIP Miyana, along with projections at Cinépolis VIP Perisur, Cinépolis VIP Mitikah and Cinépolis VIP Satélite. The Festival’s first edition in Mexico City will bring together audiences who will be a part of Sundance’s legacy and Cinépolis’s mission of empowering new stories and innovative independent artists.

Among the feature films that will be presented during Sundance Film Festival CDMX 2024 are In The Summers, the winner of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for U.S. Dramatic Competition, and Daughters, the winner of the Audience Award: U.S. Documentary and Festival Favorite Award. Other films that will be presented during the festival include the crowd-pleasers Your Monster and Love Lies Bleeding. There will also be a special screening of the 2024 Oscar winner for Best Documentary Feature: 20 Days in Mariupol. The opening night film will be the documentary FRIDA, directed by Carla Gutiérrez, who was awarded the 2024 Sundance Film Festival Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award for U.S. Documentary. 

A program of Mexican short films that have been presented over the years at Sundance Film Festival has been curated by the Sundance Programming team and will be showcased during the festival. The program is comprised of six titles, including Al Motociclista no le Cabe la Felicidad en su Traje (Fiction), La Odisea Espeleológica de Sócrates (Animation), Chica de Fábrica (Drama), among others. 

“The selection of feature films we’ve invited to this first Sundance Film Festival CDMX is a bold, exciting group of discoveries from the Sundance Film Festival,” commented Eugene Hernandez, Director, Sundance Film Festival and Public Programming. “We know that Mexico City audiences will be moved, inspired, and entertained by the originality and creativity coming from a visionary group of new filmmakers. We can’t wait to gather together in Cinepolis cinemas next month to celebrate independent cinema – we hope to see you there!”

“The Sundance Film Festival CDMX 2024 goes beyond a showcase of films; it is a gathering point for creativity, innovation, and exploration in the world of independent cinema,” commented Alejandro Ramírez, Cinépolis CEO. “We are thrilled to bring this celebration of cinema to Mexico City and to provide a platform for filmmakers and audiences to engage in meaningful conversations about the power of film to inspire, educate, and transform.”

This program is set to be a can’t-miss event for ci

By Lucy Spicer

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!

India Donaldson grew up around film. Her father is a director, and Donaldson remembers watching dailies in dark theaters, mesmerized by how scenes changed with every take. “The process and the details were so exciting to me. But I also grew up with a very specific idea of what it meant to be a director, and it wasn’t me. I did other things for a long time, had a different career,” says Donaldson. “And then my late 20s hit, and I was secretly writing screenplays and not showing them to anyone. I hadn’t escaped it.”

To date, those secret screenplays have led to three short films and, most recently, Donaldson’s feature debut, which premiered in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Written, directed, and co-produced by Donaldson, Good One follows 17-year-old Sam (Lily Collias) as she accompanies her father (James Le Gros) and his oldest friend, Matt (Danny McCarthy), on their annual summer camping trip in the Catskill Mountains. Usually, Matt’s son is part of the group, but this year, Sam is the only teen on the trip. As the trio travels farther into nature, Sam must navigate her unspoken role as peacekeeper when tensions rise between the two men. 

Below, learn more about Donaldson and the making of Good One, including the challenges of filming outdoors and how the director found the perfect actor to play Sam.

Tell us an anecdote about casting or working with your actors.

We were having a hard time finding our Sam, and one day I asked my younger sister Octavia (who was 17 at the time) if she had any actor friends. And this is how I met Lily. At the time, she was a junior at the high school I graduated from. We had coffee, and I felt an instant connection to her. She taped a few scenes and blew me away. I sent the tape to our casting director, Taylor Williams, and she immediately called me. We st