Hot Docs 2008

What do a former assassin, guerrilla, hustler and gang member all have in common? A beauty pageant, of course! Colombia is a country well known for its pageants, so the fact that Bogota's Women's Penitentiary holds an annual crowning is not completely out of the ordinary. For Maira, Viviana, Angela and Angie, the competition offers temporary excitement and respite from the crushing boredom, isolation and depression of prison life. La Corona (The Crown) moves beyond the novelty of big-house dress up and raises larger issues-femininity as identity, overrun prisons, arbitrary sentencing and civil war.
-Angie Driscoll

Co-presented with aluCine Toronto Latin@ Media Festival