Mexico at the AFI Latin American Film Festival 2024

The AFI Latin American Film Festival is one of North America's largest and longest-running showcases of Latin American cinema. Now in its 35th year, the Festival is one of Washington's top cultural events and features award-winning films, in-person conversations with filmmaker guests and exciting Embassy-hosted parties.

With the inclusion of films from Spain and Portugal, the festival celebrates Ibero-American cultural connections during National Hispanic Heritage Month. This year, Mexico will be represented by the following films:

LA COCINA (2024)

Dir. Alonso Ruizpalacios
Thursday, September 19 - 7:00PM | BUY TICKETS

Opening Night | Q&A with filmmaker Alonso Ruizpalacios, plus post-screening reception sponsored by the Mexican Cultural Institute in DC.

Mexican auteur Alonso Ruizpalacios (A COP MOVIE, GÜEROS, MUSEO) brings new meaning to kitchen-sink realism with his adaptation of British playwright Arnold Wesker's "The Kitchen," transferring the action from mid-century London to present-day New York City to craft a tragicomic tribute to life behind the scenes of a busy Times Square restaurant. Shifting between the balletic machinations of a kitchen during the lunchtime rush and the explosive interpersonal conflicts boiling just beneath the surface of its well-oiled routine, Ruizpalacios channels THE BEAR as if reimagined by John Cassavetes, creating a high-wire drama that explores the illusions of the American dream and the lengths to which the kitchen's working class and largely undocumented staff must go to achieve it. At the heart of the brilliant ensemble cast is Raúl Briones (A COP MOVIE) as Mexican chef Pedro, a fiery-tempered dreamer entangled in a turbulent affair with Julia (Oscar®-nominated actress Rooney Mara), a harried waitress with her own crosses to bear. When $800 goes missing and everyone becomes a suspect, the resulting tension threatens to push the kitchen's unrelenting pace and hierarchical divisions further into chaos.

STATE OF SILENCE (2024)

Dir. Santiago Maza

Saturday, September 21 - 4:15 PM | BUY TICKETS

A free press is a cornerstone of a democracy. But in Mexico, independent journalists have been facing escalating violence and intimidation since the "war on drugs" began over two decades ago. Operating in zones of silence where narcos and corrupt officials make reporting almost impossible, four brave journalists — Jesús Medina, Juan de Dios García Davish, María de Jesús Peters and March Vizcarra — are forced to choose between their safety and their careers. Executive produced by Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, this searing documentary is a dire reminder that the press should always be protected.

SUJO (2024)
Dir. Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez

Saturday, October 5 - 4:10 PM | BUY TICKETS
Monday, October 7 - 9:00 PM | BUY TICKETS

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.