About

Nestled in the majestic mountains of the outer Himalayas is Dharamsala, India, seat of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile and home to the Dalai Lama. For nearly 50 years, the exiled Tibetan community has been contending with threats from China. Now they have a new internal struggle. On the one hand many young Tibetans want to be part of the modern world. On the other they long to preserve their highly valued Tibetan traditions. The two desires butt heads in the “Miss Tibet Beauty Pageant.”

Young refugee Tibetan women travel from around the world to compete in the pageant, drawn by the promise of fame and opportunity. Their week of pageant preparations includes lessons in makeup and walking the catwalk as well as lectures on Tibetan culture, religion, and the politics of exile. Viewers have intimate access to both the public, performance aspect of this “pageant with a difference” as well as the behind the scenes preparations. Interviews with contestants and the promoter reveal aspirations and hint at motivations. As the competition reaches its climax, the judges’ scores are tallied and “Miss Tibet 2006” is revealed to a wildly enthusiastic crowd of thousands of Tibetan refugees. “Miss Tibet 2006,” Tsering Chungtak, a 21-year-old Sociology student from New Delhi, greets her adoring admirers.

During her Miss Tibet year she appears at infrequent minor events. But mostly she passes her time pursuing her studies and her desire to become a pop music singer – displaying little headway toward realizing her pledge of activism on behalf of Tibet through carrying the crown.

After a year without incident, a curious thing happens. Tsering unintentionally finds herself in the middle of the tense international dispute between China and Tibet at an international beauty pageant. Initially, she is allowed to compete in her “Miss Tibet” sash, alongside contestants from forty countries including Miss USA, Miss India, and even Miss China. Several days into the pageant, however, Tsering is ordered to choose between the Chinese demand that she can compete only if she agrees to represent Tibet as a Chinese province otherwise she’ll have to drop out. It’s time for Tsering to choose—pageant or politics.

Tsering’s predicament appears to be a turning point. On returning to India, dynamic promoter Lobsang Wangyal organizes a press conference to let the world know about the Chinese strong-arm tactics against Tibet. Tsering takes the stage in an unequivocally political manner, proudly wearing her Miss Tibet sash, advocating for a free Tibet. In the heated climate of the looming 2008 Beijing Olympics, many Tibetans see a potent opportunity to gain new international sympathy and leverage against China. Tsering finds herself using her stature as a Miss Tibet who has stood up to China to appear with more and more frequency in the limelight of international media coverage. And, in May 2008, the Miss Tibet organizer Lobsang Wangyal launches his own response to the Beijing Olympics, in his inimitable style, by staging a “Tibetan Olympics” in Dharamsala, India, and enlists Tsering to participate in the ceremonies.

Can politics really co-exist with the catwalk? Through the lens of a beauty pageant in a culture that has traditionally prized inner beauty over the "skin deep," "Miss Tibet: Beauty in Exile" explores some of the challenges faced by contemporary Tibetans as they struggle to embrace modernity without killing their culture.