Rojo Amanecer (Red Dawn) is a 1989 Silver Ariel Award-winning Mexican crime drama film, directed by Jorge Fons.

It focuses on the day of a middle-class Mexican family living in one of the apartment buildings surrounding the Plaza de Tlatelolco (also known as the Plaza de las Tres Culturas)[1] and is based on testimonials from witnesses and victims.

It stars Héctor Bonilla, María Rojo, the Bichir Brothers, Eduardo Palomo and others.

The boys are studying at the university and their father works at the Departamento del Distrito Federal (Mexico City's local Government).

The younger siblings Carlos (Ademar Arau) and Graciela (Estela Robles), who study primary and secondary school, barely understand what the argument is all about, because of their young age.

The mother, Alicia (María Rojo) tries to calm down the situation and tells the boys to "come early and cut their hair".

Carlos is getting ready for school while listening to the Beatles, his grandfather complains that "they're too loud" and turns the radio off.

Humberto tries to call his wife and tells her that "something big is about to happen and that he is worried", but before he can continue the phone dies.

As they are playing, suspicious men with sniper rifles and white handkerchiefs in their left hands try to take a look through an opening on the hall.

The two return to the apartment and Don Roque talks with his daughter about the military presence and the snipers at the roof of each building.

Alicia starts sewing something, Carlos does his homework and Don Roque tries to repair a watch.

After half an hour, the meeting is interrupted as red and green flares soar across the sky.

The door opens and Serigio and Jorge (whose glasses got broken while he was running) arrive, along with some mates.

One of them says that he was on the building's third floor balcony, where the speech was being given, and said that armed people dressed as civilians yelled "Olimpia Batallion!

Luis says that he was from the "Poli" (Instituto Politécnico Nacional) and was running with the crowd when he felt pain in his elbow, then found out he was shot, then afterwards lost his little sister.

The students peek through the pierced window and see "nothing but shadows" (meaning the corpses lying on the Plaza are being lifted).

In a short time, some boys call their houses to assure their families they're OK. A second shooting ensues and the lights are shut down.

He also says that ambulances were on the surrounding area of the square, but none of them seemed to take the wounded to hospitals and that students were stripped and pushed to the bottom floor's elevator walls.

on and the local news says that the shooting took place because "student snipers on the nearby buildings fired at the army, which was sent to support the police".

They force everyone out of their beds and discover the boys' room full of leftist propaganda: "The Communist Manifesto" and a Che Guevara poster on their wall.

They then inspect the apartment because of the boys' leftist propaganda and find the blood-stained sheet on which Luis laid.

Sergio, his mouth still full of blood, begs his mates to open the door.

Jorge, Don Roque and Humberto try to over-power the snipers as Sergio and Graciela escape.

This was due in large part to the stigmatization of the theme of the film, as the government maintained a strict stance.

Officials argued that it was all just a simple delay for bureaucratic reasons, the filmmakers allegated that they were trying to censor the movie, and indeed they were[citation needed].