Harvestworks

Beauty Behind Bars

Beauty Behind Bars

Beauty Behind Bars

A prison is the last place one would think to find a beauty pageant. But, in Peru sentences can be significantly reduced by prisoners’ participation in a beauty pageant for the title of Miss Primavera. Beauty Behind Bars is a documentary that explores the story of women imprisoned in Lima, Peru for trying to smuggle cocaine through the airport to other countries. Through the film we learn the destinies of these women, bound together by their prison sentence and participation in the beauty contest.

A prison is the last place one would think to find a beauty pageant. But, in Peru sentences can be significantly reduced by prisoners’ participation in a beauty pageant for the title of Miss Primavera. 

Beauty Behind Bars is a documentary that explores the story of women imprisoned in Lima, Peru for trying to smuggle cocaine through the airport to other countries. Through the film we learn the destinies of these women, bound together by their prison sentence and participation in the beauty contest. This is a story of individual survival and transformation amidst the backdrop of the international war on drugs, addressing themes of addiction and survival, as well as larger issues connected to human rights. Beauty Behind Bars is an engaging film about women enduring in their journey through the consequences of life-changing choices.

Kathy Brew

Kathy Brew is a culturally active director who has produced for PBS, worked in numerous organizations and has previously worked on social issue films, including Regret to Inform, which won best documentary at Sundance in 1998.

Roberto Guerra

Roberto Guerra is an international documentary film director, producer and cinematographer. Born in Lima, Peru, he studied electro-mechanical engineering at the Universidad Nacional de Ingenieria, Lima. He subsequently turned his attention to film, both producing and directing in Peru before working in Paris, London, and New York.