“Maybe I don’t like sex.” After her first time with a boy she liked, Paula confides this to her best friend, La Maestra. But as time passes, she comes to realize that what happened wasn’t sex - it was sexual assault. Sexual violence that occurs within intimate relationships often falls into a gray area. The line between ‘bad sex’ and sexual assault can be blurry, and this ambiguity can leave victims even more confused. Rather than searching for a ‘right answer,’ the film focuses on La Maestra, who strives to support Paula in the right way, and explores what it means to be ‘together.’ Also striking is the way the film situates drug use within the context of peace and healing in ordinary people’s lives. In this way, everyday life in this complex and captivating country unfolds on screen, moving beyond the stereotype of ‘Mexico, the country of Narcos.’
Fernanda Tovar was born in 1991 in Mexico City. She graduated from the Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica and took part in Berlinale Talents Guadalajara in 2020. Her short film My Age, Yours, and the Age of the World (2021) was screened at the Cannes Critics’ Week, and another short I Want to Violently Crash into the Windshield of Love (2024) was invited to the Tribeca Festival. Sad Girlz is her debut feature and winner of the Crystal Bear and Grand Prix of the International Jury for the Best Film in Generation 14plus at the Berlinale.
From Busan International Film Festival 2026, No. 31
