Last night I finally got to see one of the movies from Sundance that everybody was talking about this year. The movie won both the dramatic grand jury prize and the audience award at Sundance this year. Not too bad for this low budget movie with a bunch of no namers. This movie is as close to a Hispanic family that has ever been caught on film. For starters, Quinceanera is the celebration of a 15yr old girls birthday which is her transition from young girl to woman, much like a debutante , except for the fact that they don’t have to donate a gazillion dollars to a symphony guild. The movie takes place in what is now a pre-dominant Hispanic area of Los Angeles, Echo Park, which is now being gentrified and considered a very “hot” part of town where a lot of hipsters kids are migrating. The movie deals with many themes, religion, gentrification, sexuality, and the coming of age. I applaud this movie for the tough subjects and for it’s accurate portrayal of Hispanics/Latinos (my people get upset if you use the improper nomenclature).
