Exclusive: Clip from Vickie Curtis and Doug Anderson’s Sheffield-Premiering ‘Comparsa’

Documentary is happy to debut an exclusive clip from directors Vickie Curtis and Doug Anderson’s Comparsa. The film, which is Curtis’s directorial debut after writing credits on The Social Dilemma (2020) and Chasing Coral (2017), follows teenage sisters Lesli and Lupe in Ciudad Peronia, Guatemala. Comparsa documents their experience as their community reels from the deaths of 41 local girls who were locked in a room by guards who refused to let them leave after a fire began in their state-run school. Frustrated with state inaction and a continued pattern of violence toward women in their city, they rally other neighborhood teens to participate in a comparsa, a series of performances similar to a carnival. 

The directors describe the clip’s events in this way: “As preparations for the main event unfold, the audience meets some of Lesli and Lupe’s new recruits. In this scene, we see Lesli coaching Alison Barahona who is writing a rap—her first ever foray into public protest. Lesli helps her channel her pain and trauma into strength and action, all while fending off a known predator when he inserts himself into their rehearsal.” 

Comparsa is set to premiere this weekend at Sheffield DocFest, which just announced that the film also won Shine Global’s 2025 Children’s Resilience Award for Documentary. The film is executive produced by Jeff Orlowski-Yang (Chasing Coral and The Social Dilemma) and Jayro Bustamante (Ixcanul and La Llorona).