Doco ‘Black Divaz’ to chronicle inaugural Miss First Nation drag pageant

Doco ‘Black Divaz’ to chronicle inaugural Miss First Nation drag pageant
Image: Last year's Miss First Nation contestants. Image: Joseph Mayers via Screen Australia.

Upcoming TV documentary Black Divaz is set to take viewers behind the the glitz, glamour and drag of the first ever Miss First Nation pageant.

Held over five days last month in Darwin, Miss First Nation saw six Indigenous drag queens from around Australia battle it out for the title of Queen Fab-Original.

The documentary will explore the fierce competition, involving talent quests, challenges and lip sync battles, as well as the personal stories of three of the contestants.

The documentary will be directed by Adrian Russell Wills (88Redfern Now), who said the film “gives our mob a whole new kind of role model.”

“Instead of running for Olympic gold, singing in a music video, or acting on the big or small screen, these role models perform in heels, glitter and huge wigs,” he said.

“My reason for making this film is because I feel that in our communities we still haven’t really had the conversation about homophobia and acceptance of our LGBTQI+ family members.

“Too many of our youth still take their lives due to the shame and fear of rejection because of who they really are.

“In our film our extraordinary characters give us their stories, their humour, their sisterhood and their hearts, all in a beautiful truth. This story could not have come at a better time, with the message ‘it’s okay to dress up!’” Wills added.

“NITV is committed to sharing all our people’s stories and as part of this we have commissioned Black Divaz, a documentary which embraces and celebrates our vibrant Indigenous LGBTQI+ community,” NITV Channel Manager Tanya Orman said.

“This brave and bold documentary from Adrian Russell Wills explores underneath the glitz and glamour to uncover the very serious issues facing our community including homophobia and youth suicide.”

The documentary is produced by Michaela Perske and Gillian Moody.

Black Divaz has received production funding from Screen Australia in assocation with Create NSW and will premiere on NITV in 2018.

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