The 2006 film Quinceañera takes its title from the tradition and is set in Los Angeles.
Directed by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, the film follows Magdalena, a pregnant teenager whose family life changes around her planned quinceañera. It explores family expectations, sexuality, religion, gentrification, and Latino identity in the Echo Park neighborhood.
The film premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, where it won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award in the Dramatic Competition. Those awards helped draw attention to its independent production and its depiction of a Mexican American community.
The movie is not a documentary about quinceañeras. Its title refers to the central family event, while the story uses the celebration as a setting for wider social and personal conflicts.