Starring: America Ferrera, Lupe Ontiveros, Ingrid Oliu, George Lopez, Brian Sites

20th anniversary screening with screenwriter Josefina López in conversation with film critic Monica Castillo

The feature film debut of America Ferrera tells the story of Ana García, about to graduate high school in Los Angeles and at odds with her parents about what comes next. Eager to take the opportunity to enroll at Columbia University, she is met with resistance – the family needs her to help with her sister’s sewing business, and bristle at her moving so far away. Her relationship with her mother is also strained, as Ana is constantly criticized for the shape of her body, a body she herself is proud of.

Based on Josefina López’s stage play, Real Women Have Curves was groundbreaking when it debuted at Sundance, and remains not only a rare depiction of young Latina life, but also as a positive portrayal of the many shapes and sizes of the female form.