Miss Tibet and the Limbo of Exile

The Miss Tibet beauty pageant claims to give women a platform to highlight Tibetan issues, drawing attention to the the plight of the its people as well as the brilliance of the lifestyle and culture.

For Director Lobsang Wangyal, the event is not just a beauty pageant, but a political act, "celebrating our identity, our culture and our proud tradition", whilst "implicitly asserting" Tibet as a nation and Tibetans as a people.

But does the pageant really empower its women, or simply exploit them further? The film tracks Dolma, a 24 year old Australian-Tibetan woman on her courageous journey from Melbourne, Australia, back to her refugee community in India to compete in the controversial beauty pageant to win "Miss Tibet" and fulfill her dream to be an activist role model for Tibetan Women.