Comparsa, a powerful documentary from Guatemala, will have its U.S. premiere at the 34th annual Woods Hole Film Festival on July 30. Directed by Vickie Curtis and Doug Anderson, the film follows two young sisters, Lesli and Lupe Pérez, as they use art and performance to expose, denounce, and heal from violence targeting women and girls.
WOODS HOLE, Mass., July 18, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Comparsa, a powerful documentary filmed in Guatemala, will have its US premiere at the 34th Woods Hole Film Festival on Wednesday, July 30. Directors Vickie Curtis and Doug Anderson, as well as producer Anna Hadingham, will be in attendance for a Q&A following the screening.
This presentation follows the film's world premiere at the prestigious Sheffield DocFest in the UK, where it won both the Grand Jury Award in the International First Feature Competition and Shine Global's Children's Resilience Award for Documentary.
The film follows two young sisters, Lesli and Lupe Pérez, as they use art and performance to expose, denounce, and heal from violence targeting women and girls. The story begins in the aftermath of a notorious fire at a state-run children's home, which claimed the lives of 41 teenage girls the day after they protested abuse at the facility. Among the dead was Lesli and Lupe's close childhood friend, Siona. The sisters were compelled to act.
The film shines a light on their bold, raucous, and artful pursuit of liberty and justice, providing a fresh, intimate perspective on Central American youth. "I'm proud that the film walks a delicate tightrope between the inspiring talents of our characters, and the harsh, sometimes brutal realities of life for women and girls in their community and in many places around the world," says Curtis.
Long before setting out to make Comparsa, directors Curtis and Anderson were childhood friends growing up in Wayland, Massachusetts, where they met at the kindergarten bus stop. They befriended the film's producer, Anna Hadingham, in Wayland High School's theater program. They credit the school's rigorous arts and academics with laying a foundation for their shared commitment to art and social impact.
Anderson, a Harvard alum, added, "Anna had been living in Guatemala for ten years after college. When she introduced us to these charismatic teenagers who had devised a joyful way to respond to systemic violence, we recognized pretty quickly that there was a powerful story here."
Hadingham designed a collaborative production approach to bring the film's subjects into the creative process. As such, Lesli and Lupe are credited co-producers and co-writers. Their activism through art is captured with vivid intimacy by cinematographer Sebastián Lasaosa Rogers of Concord, MA, whose tragic passing earlier this year deeply affected the team. Producer Olivia Ahnemann of Marblehead, known for this year's Oscar-nominated Porcelain War, helped bring the project across the finish line.
Curtis, an Emmy-winning writer known for The Social Dilemma, explained, "So many of the films I have worked on focus on society's overwhelming, systemic problems. I was longing to tell a story focused on real people who were living the solutions."
Tickets and information are available at www,woodsholefilmfestival.org/events/comparsa/.
Media Contact
Vickie Curtis, Comparsa Film, 1 508-320-3329, [email protected], www.comparsafilm.com
SOURCE Comparsa Film
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