Seguir viviendo
Go on Living
Alejandra Sánchez
In the gang wars of Ciudad Juárez, the mother of teenagers Jade and Caleb is seriously wounded. A journalist takes the siblings to Mexico City airport, from where they will fly to Vancouver and thus get out of the country. She herself lost her son only a few years ago and initially agrees only reluctantly. During the long drive down the endless highway, through a terrain of constant menace, the three gradually learn to trust one another.
The constantly changing landscape of this intimate road movie acts as a mirror image to the three characters whose changing moods also affect the colour of the monochromatic pictures. What’s special about Sánchez’ film, though, is the fact that the two main characters really did experience the story they are enacting and are now playing themselves – i.e. when they were still children, they had to flee from death threats after their mother was shot dead. Go on Living is thus a private portrait of confrontation with real-life violence and people’s real fears in one of the most dangerous cities in the world. Yet it is a story about hope and the indispensability of people you can trust in such a situation.
Awards for ›Seguir viviendo‹
Beste weibliche Hauptrolle – Entrega de los Arieles de la Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas 2015 | Preis der Jugendjury – Festival de Cine Mexicano de Durango 2014
Alejandra Sánchez
Born 1973 in Chihuahua, Mexico, Sánchez studied communication sciences at the National Autonomous University in Mexico City before completed a degree in film at the University Centre for Cinematographic Studies. Her documentary Bajo Juárez: The City Devouring Its Daughters about crime against women and girls in Ciudad Juárez on the border between Mexico and the US received numerous international awards. As did her documentary Agnus Dei – Lamb of God about cases of child abuse within the Catholic Church. At present, she is engaged on developing audiovisual projects for the National Autonomous University at the Image Research and Production Centre.
Films by Alejandra Sánchez
Agnus Dei – Cordero de Dios (Agnus Dei – Lamb of God) 2011 | Bajo Juárez: La ciudad devorando a sus hijas (Bajo Juárez: The City Devouring its Daughters) 2006