Archive of films Quinceañera / Quinceañera

USA
2006, 90 min

Section: Sundance at Karlovy Vary
Year: 2006

The plot of the winning film at this year’s festival at Sundance unfolds in a Mexican community in modern Los Angeles. Adolescent Magdalena unexpectedly gets pregnant and leaves home. Living together with another teenage family outsider, Carlos, she faces the first existential problems of her life.

Synopsis

The plot of the winning film at this year’s festival at Sundance takes place in a Mexican community in modern Los Angeles. Magdalena lives only for the preparations for her 15th birthday celebration, an event that Mexicans attach great importance to. One day however, she finds out that a lack of caution in her first romantic encounter has left her pregnant, and the rage of her deeply religious father forces her from her home. Magdalena goes to her great-uncle Tomas, where she faces the first existential problems of her life sharing the household with another adolescent family outsider, Carlos. Confronting racial, class, and sexual prejudices, the directors pay homage to the so-called “kitchen sink” drama genre, which was predominant in British theatre and film on the cusp of the 1950s and 60s. The impressiveness of this decorously poignant film originates in the filmmakers’ steadfast belief in the poetry of everyday moments.

About the director

Wash Westmoreland, originally from Leeds in England, studied political science at the University of Newcastle. He has directed TV shows, documentaries, and fiction films. In 2003, he and Richard Glatzer filmed their feature debut The Fluffer. His movie Gay Republicans (2004) won the Audience Prize for best documentary film at AFI Fest.

Richard Glatzer studied American literature at the University of Virginia. His feature film debut Grief (1994) competed at the Sundance festival and won awards at gay and lesbian film festivals in San Francisco and Turin. He is currently preparing the film Lot’s Wife in collaboration with W. Westmoreland.

Contacts

Celluloid Dreams
2, rue Turgot, 75009, Paris
France
Tel: +33 149 700 370
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.celluloid-dreams.com

About the film

Color, 35 mm

Section:	Sundance at Karlovy Vary

Director:	Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland
Screenplay:	Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland
Dir. of Photography:	Eric Steelberg
Music:	Victor Bock, Micko Westmoreland, J. Peter Robinson
Editor:	Robin Katz, Clay Zimmerman
Producer:	Anne Clements
Production:	Kitchen Sink Entertainment
Cast:	Emily Rios, Jesse Garcia, Chalo González
Contact:	Celluloid Dreams

www:	www.quinceanerathemovie.com