Nicole Beharie is "Miss Juneteenth"
Tuesday, January 28, 2020 at 3:39PM Murtada Elfadl reporting from Sundance..
Beauty pageant films are a genre into themselves used to tell many different stories. As when a filmmaker wants to tell a heartwarming story about female ambition (Miss Firecracker) or a satire about striving for perfection (Drop Dead Gorgeous). Sometimes they even debut at Sundance (Little Miss Sunshine). The latest in this tradition is Writer/Director Channing Godfrey Peoples’ Miss Juneteenth which focuses on mother-daughter beauty pageant contestants. However i don't think we've seen one as Black or as enmenshed in specific traditions as this one.
Nicole Beharie (Shame, 42, and TV's Sleepy Hollow) stars as Turquoise Joines. She was once Miss Juneteenth, a title commemorating the day slaves in Texas were freed, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. As every character in the film keeps telling her constantly -- how rude -- she has not lived up to the promise of her teen years...