MISS PANAMA

Director, Producer, Editor, Cinematographer

When Gloria Karamañites became Miss Panama, she didn’t just win a pageant. She made history.

In 1980, Gloria Karamañites became the first Black finalist in the Miss Panama pageant. On the verge of winning the crown, pageant officials orchestrated a last minute maneuver to obstruct her path to victory, demanding that she answer an obscure legal question. MISS PANAMA is a short documentary exploring Gloria’s experiences navigating racism, the actions taken by Panama’s Afro-descendant community to rally around their Queen, and the ripple effects of U.S. imperialism. Interweaving archival, interviews and stylized imagery, the film asks Who is allowed to represent a nation ?

A TOPIC ORIGINAL SHORT

Runtime: 28 minutes

Directors / Producers - Lamar Bailey Karamañites, Pascale Boucicaut, David Felix Sutcliffe

Producer - Melina Tupa

Cinematographers - David Felix Sutcliffe, Rashid Zakat

Editors - Melina Tupa, David Felix Sutcliffe

Consulting Editor - Contessa Gayles

Original Music - Manuel Garcia-Orozco

Music Production - Chaco World Music

Original Songs - Mai-Elka Prado