Real Women Have Curves

For the play, see Real Women Have Curves (play).
Real Women Have Curves
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPatricia Cardoso
Screenplay by
Based onReal Women Have Curves
by Josefina López
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJim Denault
Edited bySloane Klevin
Music byHeitor Pereira
Production
companies
Distributed byNewmarket Films
Release dates
  • January 13, 2002 (2002-01-13) (Sundance Film Festival)
  • October 18, 2002 (2002-10-18) (United States; limited)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited States
Languages
  • English
  • Spanish
Budget$3 million[1]
Box office$7.7 million[2]

Real Women Have Curves is a 2002 American comedy-drama film directed by Patricia Cardoso, based on the play of the same name by Josefina López, who co-authored the screenplay for the film with George LaVoo. The film stars America Ferrera (in her feature film debut) as protagonist Ana García. It gained fame after winning the Audience Award for best dramatic film, and the Special Jury Prize for acting in the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. The film went on to receive the Youth Jury Award at the San Sebastian International Film Festival, the Humanitas Prize, the Imagen Award, and Special Recognition by the National Board of Review.

Real Women Have Curves broke many conventions of traditional Hollywood filmmaking and became a landmark in American independent film. According to Entertainment Weekly, it is one of the most influential movies of the 2000s and cast a wide shadow over the new generation of filmmakers to come.[3] The movie is cited for showing the impact a movie could have in the culture and it is acclaimed for its nuanced portrayal of Los Angeles.

In 2019, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[4] It is the first Latina-directed film to be inducted into the Registry.[5]

In 2021, Forbes reported that a musical adaptation was being developed.[6]

  1. ^ "'Real Women Have Curves': Things You Didn't Know". aframe.oscars.org. September 18, 2020. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  2. ^ Real Women Have Curves at Box Office Mojo
  3. ^ Nolfi, Joey (October 18, 2017). "15 years later, 'Real Women Have Curves' is still a cultural revolution". EW.com. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  4. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy (December 11, 2019). "National Film Registry Adds 'Purple Rain', 'Clerks', 'Gaslight' & More; 'Boys Don't Cry' One Of Record 7 Pics From Female Helmers". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
  5. ^ Gelt, Jessica (September 7, 2021). "Patricia Cardoso's 'Real Women Have Curves' was landmark Latina cinema, but Hollywood shut her out. Until now". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on September 7, 2021. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  6. ^ Hershberg, Marc (November 30, 2021). "'Waitress' Producers Adapting Landmark Latina Film Into Broadway Musical". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-12-25.