Fridae

Opening this week, Quinceanera is written and directed by openly-gay couple Wash Westmoreland and Richard Glatzer. Their first film was a gay romance called The Fluffer (2001). A fluffer, if you didn't know, is a man/woman whose job is to blow male pornstars so they can get hard just before the director yells, "Action!" But despite a sexy plot set in the world of gay porn, The Fluffer felt fake and formula-bound.

Their second film, however, is much muuuuch better. Unlike The Fluffer, Quinceanera deals with gay issues in a more honest and realistic way. The results are so good that Quinceanera won both the audience and grand jury prizes at this year's Sundance Film Festival. And it has just received a nomination for excellence at the upcoming Spirits Awards for independent filmmakers. Yay!

Fresh, touching and unpretentious, Quinceanera tells a story of two Hispanic teenagers in Los Angeles who have been thrown out of their parents' houses. One of them is Carlos (Jesse Garcia), a hunky cholo (usually used in a derogatory manner) who smokes and swaggers around in a wifebeater (sleeveless undershirt) and oversized buttoned shirt. So what did he do wrong? He's a homo who got Dad mad for visiting gay web sites.

The other outcast is 14-year-old Magdalena (Emily Rios), a sweet and religious girl who once sang hymns for her congregation. Her supposed crime? She got pregnant after messing around with her boyfriend.

Magdalena is on the brink of turning 15, which is traditionally the time when Hispanic families throw a huge birthday bash (called the quinceanera) to honour their daughters' transition to womanhood. But with her expanding tummy and furious father, she is not likely to have her quinceanera.

The two teenagers are forced to stay in their kind uncle's home, where they strike up an awkward alliance. Magdalena doesn't judge Carlos for being gay. And Carlos believes Magdalena when she says she got pregnant by pure accident.

But things get complicated for Carlos when a rich attractive gay white couple (David W Ross and Jason L Wood) move into the house adjacent to their uncle's property. The two older men cannot resist Carlos' chocolate-mousse skin and firm brown butt. So they set out to seduce him�

Like many good character-driven dramas, Quinceneara's biggest strength lies in its superior direction and acting, as well as the genuine likeability of its characters.

Magdalena may be pregnant at 14, but she never once wallows in self-pity. Carlos accepts his homosexuality as a fact of life and displays no angst. Though they may have been rejected by their own families, they try to set up an alternative one under their uncle's roof. And despite being gossiped about and called names, they know their self-worth.

These Hispanic kids show much more strength and tenacity than the whiny privileged white kids you'd see on The O.C. or One Tree Hill. You watch Magdalena and Carlos with a mixture of sympathy, amusement and admiration.

Actors Emily Rios and Jesse Garcia give thoroughly natural performances as Magdalena and Carlos respectively, while Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland's script and direction are suitably nuanced and understated.

For the most part, they've chosen to shot Quinceanera in a documentary-like style that emphasises the realness of its people and locations. In fact, many of the supporting actors are non-professionals recruited from the working-class neighborhood where the film was shot. Because of the many authentic details, it is easy to immerse yourself in the story, giving in to its magic slowly but surely.

So don't miss Quinceanera - it may be the one of most charming films you'll see this year. Watching Quinceanera would also be the perfect way to cap your gay movie-going experience of 2006, a year that saw an unprecedented number of LGBT movies being shown on Singapore screens, including Brokeback Mountain, Capote, TransAmerica, King And The Clown, C.R.A.Z.Y., Imagine Me and You, My Summer of Love and The Man of My Life.