Arquivo

Magdalena is the younger daughter of a religious Mexican family living in Los Angeles. It is the eve of her 15th birthday and her thoughts are centered both on the beautiful white dress she will wear to her debutante ball, and on the magnificent limousine that is to carry her to the commemoration. Just before the great day, however, fate brings her an ungrateful surprise: pregnancy without penetration. When her parents find out about her delicate state, they throw her out of the house. Magdalena takes refuge at the home of her great-uncle Tomas, also home to his cousin Carlos who is gay. All three then begin to live as a true family trying to overcome adversity. The film was made in the same neighborhood (Echo Park) in which the directors and script writers, Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, live. Friends and neighbors helped in the production offering their homes as a location, lending costumes, and acting as non-professional supporting cast. Westmoreland found inspiration in his own great-uncle, to make up Tomas. Quinceañera won the Grand Prize of the Jury and the Prize for the Public for drama at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.