‘Bad Hair’ Followup ‘Looking for Sam’ Boarded by Mexico’s Martfilms

Mexico’s Martfilms has boarded “Looking for Sam,” Mariana Rondón’s follow-up to her acclaimed coming -of-age drama “Bad Hair” (“Pelo malo”).

A docu-fiction hybrid bound for San Sebastian’s Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, the drama follows two lead actors from Mariana Rondón’s 2013 San Sebastian Golden Shell winner “Bad Hair” (“Pelo Malo”): Sam Lange who played the child Junior and the actress who played his mother, Samantha Castillo. Both of them were forced to leave Venezuela.

“’Looking for Sam’ wanders between fiction and documentary, where memory and identity blur and transform one another. It forces us to ask ourselves who we are when we leave behind who we once were,” Rondón told Variety.

“The film is about crossing borders: geographical, temporal, bodily and borders of identity. We are not simply looking for Sam. We are searching for the place where the person we once were ends and the person we are begins,” said her producing partner Marite Ugás of Sudaca Films, who added that they found Lange walking the fashion runways of Paris while Castillo emigrated to Mexico.

For Martfilm’s Martha Orozco, the partnership was a long time coming. “I’ve been following the career of this talented duo and our filmographies have often brought us together on our cinematic journeys. We’ve wanted to collaborate for a long time, and this project allows us to experiment creatively.”

“’Bad Hair,” beyond being a successful film, was a bold film for its time – one that dared to address racism, homophobia and polarization, leaving its mark on Latin American cinema. On a personal level, this inspired me to believe in resilient cinema, and through MartFilms, it’s a pleasure to be part of this new phase and share new experiences,” Orozco said, adding: “’Looking for Sam’ will be a nostalgic reunion – the country has changed, the protagonists have grown up and Mariana and Marité’s filmmaking has matured – so we expect nothing but good things from this journey.”

Martfilms has participated in past industry forums at San Sebastián, winning the pix-in-post WIP award with the Argentine-Mexican co-production “Pornomelancholia” by Manuel Abramovich and snagging the Forum prize with Laura Baumeister’s feature debut “Daughter of Rage” (Nicaragua/Mexico).

According to Ugás, Sudaca Films was invited to the “Écritures” Residency at the Cité internationale des arts in Paris for 2026–2027, starting this December.

The six-month residency will allow them to continue working on the screenplay, but also to spend time with Lange, who currently lives in Paris.

“That’s why it is particularly important for us to meet a French partner at the Europe-Latin America Co-production Forum,” said Ugás who is co-writing the screenplay with Rondón.

Founded by Rondón and Ugás, Sudaca Films turned 30 this year and is also known for such acclaimed pics as Tribeca 2021 title “Contactado” and “Zafari,” which won the French Film Critics Award in 2024.

Martfilms, which is dedicated to the creation and distribution of films committed to diversity, inclusion and social transformation has produced such films as “Beyond My Grandfather Allende” (“Allende mi abuelo Allende”) a Chile-Mexico co-production that won the best documentary L’Œil d’Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and “Niñxs” (Mexico), among others.

The 74th San Sebastian Film Festival runs over Sept. 18-26.