REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES
Year: 2002
USA: Newmarket Film Group
UK: Optimum Releasing
Cast: America Ferrera, Lupe Ontiveros, Michelle Moretti, Ingrid Oliu, George Lopez, Brian Sites, Soledad St Hilaire, Sandie Torres, Dale E Turner
Director: Patricia Cardoso
Country: USA
USA: 90 mins
UK: 86 mins
USA Rated: PG-13 for sexual content and some language
UK Certificate: 12A contains one use of strong language and moderate sexual references
USA Release Date: 18 October 2002 (Limited Release)
UK Release Date: 31 January 2003
Synopsis
Patricia Cardoso's REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES, winner of the Sundance Film Festival 2002 Audience Award and Special Jury Prize, will be released in January 2003. Starring newcomer America Ferrera and Lupe Ontiveros (CHUCK & BUCK, AS GOOD AS IT GETS), REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES is the humorous and warm-hearted story of a young Mexican-American woman growing up in Los Angeles, struggling to pursue her dream and remain loyal to her family's expectations.
A curvaceous 18-year old with a bright future ahead of her, Ana (Ferrera) is about to graduate from high school and is the first in her family with the possibility of going to college. But when money for college is impossible to find, Ana's overbearing mother, Carmen (Ontiveros), insists she takes a job at her sister's dress-making factory where she works long hours creating elegant gowns for women whose lives are nothing like their own. At the factory Ana comes to appreciate her sister and the other women working there. She encourages them, to the horror of her mother, who believes that slim is good, to love every curve of their bodies and to appreciate what makes them different from everyone else. And realizes that she may never be able to satisfy her mother's expectations, but that she must find the strength to break free from the mould and pursue her dreams.
The debut feature film from Patricia Cardoso, who won an Academy Award for her short film THE WATER CARRIER, REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES is based on Josephina Lopez's play which is drawn from her own experiences.