The 2006 film Quinceañera won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival.
Written and directed by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, the film follows a pregnant teenager and her gay cousin in Los Angeles as family tensions develop around a quinceañera. Emily Rios plays Magdalena, the central teenage character.
The film uses the celebration as more than a party setting. Its story examines family expectations, sexuality, religion, community, and belonging within a Mexican American neighborhood. The title points to the event that helps organize the characters' relationships and conflicts.
The Sundance recognition helped bring the independent film wider attention. It is sometimes confused with films about Selena or other Latino coming-of-age stories, but Quinceañera is a distinct 2006 drama.