| Description |
1 online resource (streaming video file) (28 min. 37 sec.) ; 173535215 bytes |
| Summary |
It's unquestionably the world's highest national beauty pageant, it may also be the world's smallest but it must be right up there with the strangest. Certainly when you think of Tibet you're far more like to think of the Dalai Lama, buddhist sprituality and the struggle for an independent homeland. You're less likely to summon images of a wanna-be Donald Trump-style impresario in silver threads, swimsuit shoots by mountain streams and beautiful girls aiming to be the next top beauty on top of the world. That's the Miss Tibet pageant, and - perhaps surprisingly - it's as catty and competitive as any beauty contest. But is it, as its promoter claims, all about liberation and empowerment or is it a cynical exercise in exploitation? And what will the Dalai Lama make of it all?Dolma fled her homeland Tibet and the heavy, authoritarian hand of China when she was eight and eventually made it to Australia where she later studied hard to become a nurse. So what is she now doing high in the Himalayas, by a babbling stream in a bikini and heels, pouting and busting model moves for a professional photographer? Is it possible to conceive of a less likely Tibetan scene? Probably not.Welcome to the Miss Tibet Pageant where Dolma - representing Australia - is determined to beat five other willowy, super-competitive Tibetan entrants - three from India and two from Switzerland and the USA."Miss Tibet is not just a beauty pageant, but it is a political act, because Miss Tibet celebrates our identity, our culture and our proud tradition." Dolma - Miss Tibet entrantWell, does it?Certainly the promoter of the world's highest, probably smallest national pageant spins it that way. Lobsang Wangyal is a freelance photojournalist shooting news snaps around Dharamsala - the Indian town that's home to many Tibetans in exile. But his big assignment - some might say his vanity project - is as impresario conceiving, organising and promoting the Miss Tibet event."It has all the masalas, all kind of spices. There's politics, social, fun, entertainment, education, culture ... everything. Explicitly, it is about empowering young Tibetan woman and implicitly it asserts Tibet as a nation and Tibetans as a people." - Lobsang Wangyai - Promoter.But not everyone shares Lobsang's perspective. Certainly not political leader Lobsang Sangay who was offered a seat on the Miss Tibet advisory board."I refused. I feel very uncomfortable seeing Tibetan women in swimsuit." - Lobsang SangayIn this fascinating, colourful and revealing Foreign Correspondent narrated by Jane Hutcheon we follow Australia's Miss Tibet hopeful from her home in Melbourne through the challenging speaking, dancing, singing and modelling rounds to the Grande Finale on a spectacular stage, under a blaze of popping fireworks high in the mountains.Will she win and will this be a triumph for Tibetan women? Well the fireworks aren't the only explosions you'll see at the conclusion of this very odd and unlikely event |
| Event |
Broadcast 2012-06-05 at 20:00:00 |
| Notes |
Classification: NC |
| Subject |
Beauty contestants.
|
|
Beauty contests.
|
|
Models (Persons) -- Conduct of life.
|
|
India.
|
|
China -- Tibet Autonomous Region.
|
| Form |
Streaming video
|
| Author |
Hutcheon, Jane, host
|
|
Drimedtsang, Dolma, contributor
|
|
Rinpoche, Samdhong, contributor
|
|
Sangay, Lobsang, contributor
|
|
Schuetze, Catherine, contributor
|
|
Sharma, Chattu, contributor
|
|
Wangyal, Lobsang, contributor
|
|
