Wa, Nan: A short feature film on beauty pageants and the idea of beauty

• Main Authors: Orlido, Danette Ann Gabrielle M., Santos, Andrea Eliza M., Tayag, Marie Bernadette B.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2018
• Subjects: Short films > Philippines; Transsexuals in motion pictures; Gays in motion pictures; Communication
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/8858
• Institution: De La Salle University

Wa, Nan is a 20-minute short film about Esmeralda, a 59 year-old transgender woman and former beauty queen who now works as a car mechanic in Manila. She meets 21-year old transgender woman Alex, an aspiring beauty queen who went to the shop to get her car fixed. Not having enough money to get her car back, and scheduled to join a local pageant, Alex is left with no other choice, but to sneak out her car. Esmeralda, the owner of the shop, catches her. Knowing that Alex will join the pageant, instead of stopping her, Esmeralda agrees to help, on one condition: Alex needs to take Esmeralda with her. Both come to terms and travel to Quezon together. Wa, Nan, kaliwa, kanan or moving forward is about two people who struggles to find their place. It attempts to redefine beauty in a world where appearance is its frontier-- beauty contests. The narrative is set by characters who break the ideal notion of beauty. As outcasts, both characters share the goal of finding their sense of belongingness through superficial title. An aspiring beauty queen with high hopes and a former beauty queen with forgotten dreams meet and will eventually discover what beauty truly is.