Comparsa, the vibrant documentary feature marking the directorial debut of Emmy-winning screenwriter Vickie Curtis (The Social Dilemma, Chasing Coral) and filmmaker Doug Anderson (sound mixer, Knock Down the House), will open theatrically in New York for an exclusive one-week run at DCTV Firehouse Cinema from Friday, October 9 through Thursday, October 15, 2026.
Coinciding with the International Day of the Girl (October 11), select screenings will feature in-person Q&As with the filmmakers and Lesli Canela Pérez, the film’s subject, co-writer, and co-producer. Following an acclaimed international run across more than 75 festivals in 27 countries—garnering 30 awards, including the Grand Jury Award at Sheffield DocFest, the Grand Jury Prize at the Calgary International Film Festival, the Audience Award at the Lima Film Festival, and the Social Impact Award at the Heartland International Film Festival—the documentary arrives in New York with an inspiring story on the power of art to heal a community.
Set in Ciudad Peronia, Guatemala, Comparsa follows sisters Lesli and Lupe Canela Pérez, two young artists and organizers who transform grief and outrage into a tool for collective healing. In the wake of the 2017 Hogar Seguro tragedy—where a fire under state custody claimed the lives of 41 young girls, including their childhood friend Siona—the sisters respond by mobilizing local youth to build a comparsa: a vibrant street intervention featuring giant puppets, stilt walkers, fire, drums, poetry, and dance.
Producer Olivia Ahnemann (Porcelain War, The Cove) brings years of industry experience to the project, and Anna Hadingham brings over a decade of artistic and community collaboration in Ciudad Peronia. The film is executive produced by Jayro Bustamante (Ixcanul, La Llorona), one of the most acclaimed voices in contemporary Guatemalan cinema, and Emmy-winning documentarian Jeff Orlowski-Yang (The Social Dilemma). The late Brooklyn-based filmmaker Sebastián Lasaosa Rogers and Maya Kaqchikel filmmaker Edgar Tuy captured the cinematography.
Built over seventeen years of close collaboration between the creative team and the Peronia community, Comparsa weaves direct cinema with sequences of profound poetic beauty. Steering clear of conventional narratives of victimhood or top-down aid, the film offers an intimate portrait of how joy, humor, and sisterhood can serve as radical forms of social resistance.
