REVIEW: ‘Black Divaz’ at Margaret Mead FF
Photo: Black Divaz features Crystal, a drag performer who enters a contest to be named Miss First Nation. Photo courtesy of Joseph Mayers / Provided by AMNH with permission.
The one-hour documentary Black Divaz follows a group of drag performers as they compete against one another in Darwin, Australia. What makes this contest unique is that the winner is crowned Miss First Nation. These performers speak to issues of acceptance and struggle both within the LGBTQI and indigenous communities.
The resulting film, which will soon play the Margaret Mead Film Festival at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, is a telling and moving portrait of the power of stylized performance and how a stigma-free space can offer an opportunity for artistic dedication and personal comfort. Many of the performers profiled in Adrian Russell Wills’ documentary have faced discrimination in their lives, but once they come together as a community, these individuals come alive.
Performing in the Miss First Nation drag contest is no easy feat. They are put through a grueling rehearsal schedule and need to impress the judges with dance moves and individual talents. But unlike so many other competition documentaries and TV series, who ultimately triumphs in the competition seems secondary. Instead, each and every one of the performers in Black Divaz achieves a certain sense of camaraderie and respect with one another. This is less about who wins and more about ensuring everyone shines.
Throughout this journey, audiences follow along and have a blast. The dresses, makeup selections and eyelashes are flashy and vibrant, adding accentuated adornment to memorable stage names like Crystal Love and Jo Jo.
Because the doc is relatively short, each of the six performers receives minimal screen time, and there are a few individuals who deserve a deeper, more introspective part of the film. Still, despite its blink-and-you-miss-it running time, Wills is able to capture the life and passions of these drag performers, documenting their lives both with and without the makeup on.
Although cinematic portraits of drag performers have been released for quite some time (going back to the seminal Paris Is Burning and beyond), this one is particularly unique given its fine focus on performers from indigenous cultures. That makes Black Divaz a refreshing and original take on the world of drag, offering an insider’s look at the glitz, glamor and gorgeousness — and never forgetting about the struggles and triumphs along the way.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Black Divaz (2019), directed by Adrian Russell Wills, will have its U.S. premiere Saturday, Oct. 19 at 8:30 p.m. at the Margaret Mead Film Festival at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Click here for more information and tickets. Running time: 60 minutes. Rating: 
