Quinceanera, (2005). Sony Pictures.ASIN B000K2Q7CI
91 min
Format: DVD
Genre: Realistic
Classification: Fiction
Age level: Rated R
Reader's annotation
Fourteen-year-old Magdalena is shocked to discover that she is pregnant as the date of her Quinceanera celebration nears. Cast out of her home in shame, she moves in with some black sheep relatives. Meanwhile, more change takes place as gentrification threatens the balance of their close-knit Hispanic community in Echo Park, Los Angeles.
Summary
Set in the predominantly Hispanic neighborhood of Echo Park, Los Angeles, Quinceanera stars Emily Rios as Magdalena, a girl who discovers she is pregnant as she nears the date of her 15th birthday. Magdalena celebrates her Quiceanera at a big family party in a beautiful dress, but her future holds a harsher reality. Her pregnancy brings shame upon her family and her parents are furious, though she insists she has never been with a man. She leaves home to live with her great-granduncle and a gay cousin while her boyfriend struggles with the temptations of crime and gangs on the street. Meanwhile, the Hispanic community struggles as the neighborhood tips toward gentrification. The film has the authentic feel of a documentary as dialog slips easily between English and Spanish and much of it was filmed on location. Jesse Garcia, Jesus Castanos and Araceli Guzman-Rico co-star. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2006.
Notes
Quinceanera is a moving and insightful film about a Hispanic girl’s coming-of-age amid the harsh realities of urban life.
Awards and honors
Sundance Film Festival: Grand Jury Prize: Drama, 2006
Sundance Film Festival: Audience Award: Drama, 2006
