Mexico’s official entry into The Oscars“Sujo”, made a sweep of the 22^n.d Morelia Int’l Film Festival (FICM), which won the festival’s Ojo Awards for Best Film, Director and Screenplay.

Contributors Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez, whose debut picture “Identifying Features” won a pair Sundance awards and took home the award for Best International Film at the 2021 Gotham Awards, also won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema with “Sujo,” their second film, in January.

Celebrated by Amount as an “upbeat alternative to violent drug war movies,” the poignant coming-of-age story revolves around the impact of drug cartels on youth. The saga follows young Sujo (played by Kevin Uriel Aguilar Luna and Juan Jesús Varela) who grows up surrounded by their violence. When his father, a sicario (hired assassin), is killed, he becomes a target but Sujo’s insolent aunt saves him.

Sujo’s win attracts a light-filled festival that included Francis Ford CoppolaAlexander Payne, Alfonso CuarónLiv Tyler, Ava DuVernay, Ira Sachs and Leos Carax in attendance.

The festival led by Daniela Michel opened on October 18 with France’s entry to the Oscars, “Emilia Pérez” by Jacques Audiard, which won the Cannes Jury Prize and the award for Best Actress for its four leads, Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, Karla Sofía Gascón and Adriana Paz. The latter two were special guests at the 22nd FICM.

Coppola’s latest opus “Megalopolis” was among the festival’s gala screenings, where the five-time Oscar winner was awarded FICM’s Artistic Excellence Award.

Additionally, multi-Oscar-nominated cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto presented his directorial debut, “Pedro Páramo,” an adaptation of Juan Rulfo’s literary classic for Netflix.

Prieto has been nominated for his lens work in Ang Lee’s “Brokeback Mountain” and Martin Scorsese’s “Silence”, “The Irishman” and “Killers of the Flower Moon”.

Cuaron, winner of multiple Oscars for “Gravity” and “Roma,” closed the Oct. 25 festival with his latest work, the AppleTV+ limited series, “Disclaimer.”

FICM, which recognizes and showcases the best Mexican works of the year, also hosted the Mexican premieres of such prominent titles as Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist,” Mark Cousin’s documentary “A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things,” Luis Ortega’s “El Jockey , DuVernay’s “Ursprung”, Aaron Schimberg’s “A Different Man” and the winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, Pedro Almodóvar’s “The Room Next Door”, as well as Sean Baker’s “Anora”, winner of the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

22^n.d Winners of FICM:

Best Mexican Fiction Film

“Sujo,” Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez

Best director

Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez, “Sujo”

Best script

Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez, “Sujo”

Best actor

Andrés Revo, “Fine Young Men” (“Hombres íntegros”)

Best Actress

Diana Laura Di, “Violent Butterflies” (“Violentas mariposas”)

Best Mexican Documentary

“I Died” (“Li cham”), Ana Ts’uyeb

Special mention for Mexican documentary

“Cracked” (“La falla”), Alana Simoes

Best Mexican Fiction Short Film

“Spirit”, Adolfo Margulis

Best Mexican Animated Short Film

“The Black Stain” (“La mancha negra”), Yareni Velázquez Mendoza

Best Mexican Documentary Short

“Looking for a Donkey” (“Buscando un burro”), Juan Vicente Manrique

Jury’s special prize

“Renta Imagen: Niño halcón duerme entre visiones de un incendio,” Mauricio Sáenz-Cánovas

Best Michoacan Short Film

“Imprint” (“Impronta”), Rafael Martínez-García

Best Michoacán short film script

“Antesala al primer beso,” Adrián A. González Camargo