Films about immigrants take top honors at film festival

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Two films examining immigrant life in America, the Hispanic teen drama "Quinceanera" and the Sudanese refugee documentary "God Grew Tired of Us," won top honors January 28 at the Sundance Film Festival.

"Quinceanera," is a film about a girl ostracized by her family after she becomes pregnant shortly before her 15th birthday. "Quinceanera" offers a culture-clash portrait of Los Angeles' Echo Park area, traditionally a Hispanic neighborhood that has become a trendy enclave.

"God Grew Tired of Us" follows three Sudanese boys adjusting to life in the United States after the bloody civil war in their homeland, and received both the jury prize and audience award for U.S. documentaries.

Another immigrant story, the Mexican film "De Nadie," won the audience award for world-cinema documentary. The film traces a Central American woman's 1,300-mile journey north in search of a new life in the United States.

A special jury prize for independent vision was awarded to director So Yong Kim's "In Between Days," about a newly arrived Korean girl trying to find her place in America.