Quinceanera (R, 2006)

The winner of the Audience and Grand Jury prizes at Sundance, QUINCEANERA follows a couple of coming-of-age tales. Living in Echo Park, Los Angeles, Cousins Magdalena (Emily Rios) and Carlos (Jesse Garcia) both find themselves kicked out of their homes for very different reasons. Carlos' conservative father cannot accept the fact that his son is gay. Magdalena's been sent away by her father, Pastor Ernesto (Jesus Castanos-Chima), after he learns that she's pregnant, just weeks shy of her quinceañera -- 15th birthday. Though Magdalena tells her father she has never had intercourse with her straight-A student boyfriend, the adults don't believe her. Taken in by their great-great uncle Tomas (Chalo Gonzalez), Magdalena and Carlos learn to support one another even when they feel rejected by their own fathers.

The movie is about property as well as propriety. For one thing, the neighborhood is in the process of "gentrification": as poor Hispanic residents are pushed out by younger, wealthier white buyers, generational expectations change. Carlos surfs the Net; Magdalena and friends want to purchase U.S. mass-marketed merchandise (clothing and food). Both angry fathers represent a losing effort to maintain "the old ways." Their inflexibility is contrasted with Tomas' openness to change, his generosity, and unconditional love.