Young Latinos in Los Angeles struggle with life as outsiders when they find themselves at loggerheads with traditional family and Catholic values in this sensitive portrayal of Latino life in the USA.
Magdalena, getting ready to celebrate her Quinceañera (a Mexican coming-of-age ceremony celebrated on a girl's 15th birthday), discovers she is pregnant. Demonised by her conservative Catholic family, she takes refuge with her kindly great-great-uncle Tomas, joining her brother Carlos, who was also thrown out of the family home after he was discovered surfing gay websites. The trio form an ad hoc family, united by their outsider status, and find stability of a kind. However, things are complicated when Carlos is drawn into a dalliance with Tomas' self-involved gay landlords.
Endearing and unpretentious, Quinceañera is an affecting depiction of life in West Coast Mexican immigrant communities, where the forces of gentrification are encroaching on their neighbourhoods. Winner of both the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival.