''Pageant'' is a 2008
documentary film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...
directed and produced together by
Ron Davis and Stewart Halpern. The film explored the behind-the-scenes dramas and realities of the 34th
Miss Gay America
Miss Gay America is a national pageant for female impersonators. Established in 1972, the pageant is based on the Miss America contest and follows a similar format.
Each year, contestants compete at various city, state, and direct regional pre ...
Contest held in 2004. The film's central theme was the universal desire to be beautiful, noticed and chosen. The film garnered 10 film festival awards before airing on the
Sundance Channel Sundance Channel can refer to:
* Sundance TV, formerly known as Sundance Channel (United States).
* Sundance Channel (Canada)
* Sundance Channel (Netherlands)
* Sundance Channel (Europe)
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in 2010.
Critical response
While some reviewers, such as Martin Tsai from ''
The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...
'' felt that the film only skimmed along the surface insanity saying that "filmmakers Ron Davis and Stewart Halpern-Fingerhut's treatment is only skin-deep, eschewing any exploration of gender politics or psychological effects induced by the ubiquitous ugly-duckling-turned-swan narrative." Other reviewers such as Nathan Lee in the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' felt that it was "not without its charm, and it's touching, in a goofy sort of way, to see how seriously everyone takes it." George Williamson in An Eye for Film described it as "... an entertaining portrait of some wonderfully larger than life characters, a mind blowing amount of effort and an incredible desire to win." Michael Klemm from Cinemaqueer recommended it saying "If you just want a good time, you can't go wrong with ''Pageant''. Anyone who likes to indulge their inner divas should be enthralled."
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
gave it an 85% approval rating.
Awards and nominations
* Winner, Audience Award, Best Documentary Frameline 32
* Winner, Audience Award, Best Documentary, Florida Film Festival
* Official Selection, Slamdance Festival
* Winner, Best Documentary, Fresno Reel Pride
* Winner, Best Documentary, Outflix Film Festival
* Winner, Best Documentary, Chicago Image Out festival
* Winner, Best Documentary, Honolulu Rainbow Festival
* Winner, Audience Award, Best Feature, Fire Island Film and Video
* Winner, Jury Award, Best Documentary, Reelings 2008
* Winner, Audience Award, Best Documentary Rochester ImageOut Festival
References
External links
*
* {{rotten-tomatoes, id=pageant, title=Pageant
2008 films
Documentary films about LGBT topics
2008 documentary films
American documentary films
Documentary films about beauty pageants
2008 LGBT-related films
2000s American films