Educational Media Reviews Online

Eytan Ipeker’s documentary, The Pageant covers the 2016 Miss Holocaust Survivor Beauty Pageant held in Haifa, Israel. Since 2011, this pageant has been used to raise funds for the Yad Ezer L’Haver Foundation. A foundation that provides food and other assistance to Holocaust survivors. The film is a well-done documentary. However, it is unsettling and strange, raising uncomfortable questions about the traumatic effects of the Holocaust on survivors, their present needs for food and housing security, as well as the politics that surround current realities.

Ipeker allows the story and his point of view to unfold with careful editing and without any outside narration. He allows the participants to drive the story forward and provide the history and background of the event. We see images of concentration camp survivors on the walls of the Haifa Holocaust Museum as we listen to the pageant’s dance music. During the main part of the pageant, as each candidate is given time to address the audience, we witness one candidate’s moment overshadowed by modern political celebrity when Israel’s First Lady, Sara Netanyahu arrives late.

We are continually reminded throughout the documentary that the Miss Holocaust Survivor Pageant is not an outer beauty pageant, but one that awards inner beauty. Ipeker leaves us to struggle with our own thoughts and emotions on this aspect of the contest. How can one judge who suffered the most or survived the best?

I highly recommend this film for college and general adult audiences. It would enhance discussions in courses focused on the Holocaust, women studies, psychology, and aging.

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