BEAUTY AND BRAINS (2010) - NEPAL.

Beauty and Brains.
Beauty and Brains, from British filmmaker Catherine Donaldson, documents talent contests in Nepal that feature third gender or Meti participants, individuals who are categorized (by their will or by social consensus) as neither male nor female. Filmed in 2008, the contests were held with the purpose of achieving equal rights and opportunities for Nepalese third gender communities and of preventing and controlling HIV/AIDS, a growing epidemic in South East Asia.
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From Ms. Donaldson:
"To be third-gender in Nepal means a choice of three careers; giving blessing at weddings, begging or prostitution. They are excluded from family and school, are prey to security forces, blackmail and sexual abuse. However, as Nepal attempts to write a new constitution there is a chance of change. In order to be heard above the clamour and civil unrest, the third-genders with Sunil Pant and the Blue Diamond Society embarked on the Beauty and Brains Talent Contest. This is the story of a community gaining the confidence to confront prejudice and tell society they are natural human beings."

[μέσω του gay persons of color.] .