American Royalty (2022)

Beauty Will Save the World

BEAUTY WILL SAVE THE WORLD charts the journey of 19 year old Tecca Zendik, a contestant in the Miss Net World contest, Libya's first every beauty competition. Colonel Muammar Qaddafi hosts this competition and the film includes extraordinary footage of the Colonel. Tecca's story reveals an incredible conclusion no-one could have guessed when private jests transported the beauties to the country feared by the West in the 1980's.

Troy

In year 1250 B.C. during the late Bronze age, two emerging nations begin to clash. Paris, the Trojan prince, convinces Helen, Queen of Sparta, to leave her husband Menelaus, and sail with him back to Troy. After Menelaus finds out that his wife was taken by the Trojans, he asks his brother Agamemnon to help him get her back. Agamemnon sees this as an opportunity for power. They set off with 1,000 ships holding 50,000 Greeks to Troy.

Olympia: Part One – Festival of the Nations

Commissioned to make a propaganda film about the 1936 Olympic Games in Germany, director Leni Riefenstahl created a celebration of the human form. This first half of her two-part film opens with a renowned introduction that compares modern Olympians to classical Greek heroes, then goes on to provide thrilling in-the-moment coverage of some of the games' most celebrated moments, including African-American athlete Jesse Owens winning a then-unprecedented four gold medals.

Kanaka

Mikha is a nail artist who is very passionate about her work. She works so hard that she sometimes forgets to spend time with her family. She wishes her husband could have more time for the family, so that her child doesn't need to be taken care of by his mother all the time. They argued a lot about who should take care of their children. Mikha feels that her nail art studio is not suitable for her child's growth. She wanted her daughter's life to be better than the bitter stories of her clients.

Ask This of Rikyu

Sen no Rikyu (Ebizo Ichikawa) is the son of a fish shop owner. Sen no Rikyu then studies tea and eventually becomes one of the primary influences upon the Japanese tea ceremony. With his elegant esthetics, Sen no Rikyu is favored by the most powerful man in Japan Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Nao Omori) and becomes one of his closest advisors. Due to conflicts, Toyotomi Hideyoshi then orders Sen no Rikyu to commit seppuku (suicide). Director Mitsutoshi Tanaka's adaptation of Kenichi Yamamoto's award-winning novel of the same name received the Best Artistic Contribution Award at the 37th Montréal World Film Festival, the Best Director Award at the 2014 Osaka Cinema Festival, the 30th Fumiko Yamaji Cultural Award and the 37th Japan Academy Film Prize in nine categories, including Best Art Direction, Excellent Film and Excellent Actor.

Have You Seen This Before?

A story with no (real) narrative that just takes you through a holiday in Wales to show you how great it can be, whilst also trying to explore the creativity that cinematography and colour grading can present to you.

Les Couturiers de l'Église

Plot unavailable

Served Like a Girl

Five women veterans who have endured unimaginable trauma in service create a shared sisterhood to help the rising number of stranded homeless women veterans by entering a competition that unexpectedly catalyzes moving events in their own lives.

Desire for Beauty

Four people turn to plastic surgery as the last resort in their search for perfection - their appearances will change, but will their lives?

Subjects of Desire

Subjects of Desire is a thought provoking film that examines the cultural shift in beauty standards towards embracing (or appropriating) Black aesthetics and features, deconstructing what we understand about race and the power behind beauty.

Crowned Species

A journalistic investigation, built not on rumors and assumptions, but on direct evidence, revealing the true mechanisms of podium coronations. Hidden camera footage of negotiations with the owners of the largest national beauty contests and an attempt to answer the question of why these people are not yet in prison. Famous people on the jury are not a guarantee of fair judging. Irrefutable evidence of the corruption of the so-called “stars” who elect the next Miss and Mrs. The collection and subsequent theft of funds for charity is a side business of the owners of fraudulent shows. What actually awaits the titled Misses after purchasing the prize? And what do children's beauty pageants turn out to be like for young participants?

Bikini Destination: Triple Fantasy

Bikini Destination's TripIe Fantasy brings you the worIds most beautifuI women in some of the worlds most beautifuI IocaIes. In crisp, cIear widescreen high definition, join these top modeIs as they Iose their bikinis and set sail on a series of sexy adventures.

Three Venus

Love and admiration in 16mm. The fusion a beauty that exists throughout three generations; my three Venus.

Little Miss Westie

A year in the life of two transgender siblings as they navigate puberty, a local beauty pageant, and transitioning in the Trump era.

Iris

During the war of the Portuguese overseas colonies, Íris Maria, an 18-year-old Portuguese girl born on a small island in Mozambique won the titles of Miss Mozambique and Miss Portugal 1972. This is her story.

Men: The Origins

Plot unavailable

Misbehaviour

A group of women involved in the Women's Liberation Movement hatched a plan to invade the stage and disrupt the live broadcast at the 1970 Miss World competition in London, resulting in overnight fame for the newly-formed organization. When the show resumed, the results caused an uproar and turned the Western ideal of beauty on its head.

The Queen

In 1967, New York City is host to the Miss All-American Camp Beauty Pageant. This documentary takes a look behind the scenes, transporting the viewer into rehearsals and dressing rooms as the drag queen subculture prepares for this big national beauty contest. Jack/Sabrina is the mistress of ceremonies, and their protégé, Miss Harlow, is in the competition. But, as the pageant approaches, the glamorous contestants veer from camaraderie to tension.

Deadly Gorgeous

Deadly Gorgeous is a documentary about the importance of beauty even after death. Mixing fiction and reality, the film explores the world of corpse makeup artists, cemeteries and a couple that need to think about how their own funerals would be like.

Plucking the Daisy

Due to an urgent need of money, aspiring writer Agnes participates in an amateur striptease contest. Her new boyfriend, Daniel, who is a reporter by profession, covers the contest for his magazine.

VeggieTales: Beauty and the Beet

Mirabelle and her traveling family band, the Veggietones, are determined to make their next gig at Vegtable Square Garden. On their journey, a fierce winter snowstorm hits, and the family gets stuck at a run-down resort! Mr. Beet, the grumpy manager makes me sing - and clean - for their supper. Why is Mr. Beet such a beast? And can Mirabelle's kindness change him? Find out in this hilarious and heartwarming tale of unconditional love!

Margaret Cho: Beautiful

Learning to love her luscious self over the past forty years, comedian Margaret Cho realized that the eye of the beholder doesn't hold all the power when it comes to beauty. Our tastes may be groomed by the media, but how we feel about how we look brings our self-image into focus. Armed with something more potent than lip gloss - a mouth so shocking and raunchy it should be stamped with a warning - Cho toured America with her manifesto: "This show is really about how we should feel beautiful," says Cho. "When you feel beautiful, you're going to have more of a willingness to use your voice to speak." Shot at the Long Beach Terrace Theater, Cho's latest stand-up concert film, Beautiful, explores the good, bad, and downright ugly in beauty, and the unattractive politicians and marketers who shape our world.

No Contest

A beauty contest turns into a hostage situation, when the Miss Galaxy competition is taken over by a gang, demanding a ransom of diamonds. Sharon, a kick-boxing actress, is the host of the show, and the thorn in the terrorists side.

Miss Beijo

An adaptation of the short story with the same name by Portuguese writer Lídia Jorge.

The Legend of Frenchie King

Outlaw sisters in the old West inherit a ranch and try to settle down and develop relationships with neighboring family of lots of brothers.

The Vengeance of She

Beautiful young European girl, Carol, is possessed by the spirit of Ayesha – “She Who Must be Obeyed” – and led to the lost city of Kuma, where she is destined to become queen.

Beauty on Parade

Marian Medford Woodstock gave up a chance twenty years ago to compete for the Miss USA beauty title in order to marry Jeffrey Woodstock. She hopes to realize her past ambitions for fame and fortune through her daughter Kay, whom she persuades to enter a local beauty contest. Kay wins and is interviewed by reporter Gil McRoberts, who advises her to get married and settle down. Jeffrey is very upset with his wife's and daughter's passion for beauty contests and, when Kay enters the national contest, he informs Marian that she must choose between him and her chase after empty honors for Kay.

Dumplin'

To prove a point about measuring up and fitting in, Texas teen Willowdean “Dumplin’” Dickson enters a local pageant run by her ex-beauty queen mom.

Miss India America

Lily is a winner, but when her boyfriend leaves her for a vapid beauty pageant queen, she gets the notion that winning the Miss India America title would bring him back. Since Lily is perfect in everything else she does, it should be a cinch...or so she thinks. The pageant world isn't just pretty smiles and high heels, and her main competition, Sonia, gives her a run for her money.