This documentary was shot in 2010 but because the setting is the rather deprived Cape Flats area of Cape Town in South Africa, it has a very distinctly old fashioned feel to it.  The area is populated by ‘Coloureds‘ a multi-racial ethnic group, and time has definitely stood still for the local populace, especially the LGBT community that must constantly deal with blatant homophobia.

This is the story of the area’s most important annual pageant Miss Gay Western Cape where the competing drag queens hope that by winning, this will be the first step to a more glamorous life.

Filmmaker Lauren Beukes choses to follow three of the contestants starting with all their preparations in  the run up to the event. Kat Gilardi (dubbed The Princess) is managed by her boyfriend Errol who was a runner-up in Mr Gay South Africa and who even designs and make all her costumes.  Kayden van Eerden with 59 beauty pageant wins under her belt, think this one is hers for the taking. The fact that she is a pre-op trans woman causes some consternation and objections to the fact that this disqualifies her, but it brings a crude rebuttal from the Organizer who says that anyone still packing a penis can enter.

The third contestant is Eva Torez a young car mechanic who is preparing to enter the pageant for the first time, and it is he who almost unemotionally bears witness to how rough the area is with both of his brothers being killed within a few months of each other. Despite this he possess one of the most optimistic attitudes of all the contestants and has an infectious sunny outlook on life. 

When the week of the Pageant arrives and all the contestants have to start rehearsing, the camaraderie between them all is touching and quite genuine.  They are very creative at designing and making their own homegrown costumes out of presumably very small budgets, and it is only Kayden who works at Mcdonalds during the day who lashes out big bucks for her couture gown and without a hint of where the money came from.

The organizers do a good job of making the event look as glamorous as possible and everything on the big day goes extremely smoothly. That is until Kayden doesn’t even make the cut for the Top Five and she cannot wait to get out the Theater claiming the whole thing is rigged. 

‘Princess’ claims the crown and when the local tabloids catch her embracing Errol they dub the pair the ‘Posh & Becks of the Cape Flats’ which makes them both very happy.

It is an intriguing wee documentary which quickly had us invested in the outcome of the Pageant as the guys enthusiasm for this one moment to escape the daily drudgery was both touching and so heartening. It was not just their one moment in the spotlight, but a rare opportunity for once to be true to who they really are.  That is something that never should be missed.

The video below in fact is the whole movie : all 56 minutes of it.