But, Brazil is also notorious for its prison influx. With over 600,000 prisoners, it has the fourth-largest prison population in the world. The female prison population has grown 146% in just seven years. Life behind bars is bleak when you share living quarters with convicted criminals.
Glamour is the last thing you would expect. But in Brazil's largest city, even prison walls can't keep out fantasies of beauty, style and the social mobility can afford. So, we travel to So Paulo to attend a beauty pageant in the country's largest female maximum-security prison complex. We arrived just in time to catch the inmates' final indoor rehearsal.
Hired by the prison, local celebrity choreographer, Julinho, is the pageant's creative director and beauty coach. In the prison's church, Julinho was teaching the women how to walk like professional pageant queens. [Bianca Zanini]: So, there's going to be four categories. The first one is Miss Max or Miss International.
It's because this prison has a lot of foreign women. And so, it's about being beautiful no matter where you're from in the world. The second one is Muse of Maturity, a prize for the older, inspirational women in the prison. (The) third one is Miss Congeniality.
And the fourth one is really interesting, probably the most interesting one of them (all). It's the Mr. Congeniality. It's a new prize, the first time we've had this, and it's for the openly-gay inmates here.
[Bianca Zanini]: After the rehearsal, we met up with Ana Paula, who started Mr. Max, an openly-gay category that has never been done at any other beauty pageant before. [Bianca Zanini]: Ana gave me a tour of her prison cell, where she spends the majority of her time. [Bianca Zanini]: Bianca, a native Brazilian, and her best friend from Spain, Inmaculada, have both made it to the final round for the crown title of Miss Beleza Internacional.
[Bianca Zanini]: Also competing for the crown, Falida, from Sweden, is a long way from home. She served one year out of a seven-year sentence after being caught with 8 kilos of cocaine at So Paulo International Airport. Falida doesn't speak Portuguese, and preferred to talk to me in English instead. We sat down in the prison classroom where inmates spend their free time reading and drawing.
[Bianca Zanini]: What did you do? [Falida Djonni Dahlgren]: International drug trafficking. I went in debt, so I ended up borrowing some money This was the last resort of not paying of my debt. I had cocaine in the airport. It was in a suitcase.
I knew I was gonna get a suitcase. I wasn't really sure what was gonna be inside it. As far as I knew, it was going to be something; because I was in debt, right? Once I was in the airport, I was thinking of just leaving the bag, and just (making a) run for it, but I was even scared because this guy knew where I was living. Once they opened the bag, it was, like, stitched in; into the walls (or, in other words, the sides of the bag).
[Bianca Zanini]: So, how did you feel the moment they were like, "Let's look in your bag", or - ? [Falida Djonni Dahlgren]: At that moment, I think (that) I was mostly just in shock. I knew that there was a risk, but if this was happening, it was, in a way, maybe meant to happen. [Bianca Zanini]: Why is this pageant important to you? [Falida Djonni Dahlgren]: I know that we've done something bad; and, of course, we should be punished for it. But, we're still human.
(In) one way, this could just help us, you know, to.. Cope with the prison life. [Bianca Zanini]: So, right now, bags of shoes have just arrived. [Bianca Zanini]: For some of them, it's been a decade in flat shoes.
[Bianca Zanini] Nairajane, a Miss Congeniality contestant, leaves three children back at home while she serves time for trafficking. [Bianca Zaranini]: Tomorrow, Nairajane's mother is making the journey to watch her daughter compete for the Miss Congeniality title. [Bianca Zaranini]: Not everyone is so fortunate. Clementina is a competitor for Muse of Maturity, a prize for older women.
She's far, far away from her family in So Tom, Africa. [Bianca Zanini]: Who's gonna win this, do you think? [Falida Djonni Dahlgren]: We all have a good chance of winning. There's a lot of pretty girls. [Bianca Zanini]: Okay, that's very diplomatic; but, like, who do you think is gonna win? [Falida Djonni Dahlgren]: Of course, I'm gonna cheer on myself.
[Both laugh] [Falida Djonni Dahlgren]: I think (that) I have a good chance. I think (that) I have a lot of charisma, I have intelligence; I think (that) I have beauty on the inside and the outside. [Bianca Zaranini]: So, apparently this beauty pageant is a lot bigger than I thought (it was going to be). It's huge! The girls have been preparing for months, there's been several elimination rounds.
There's gonna be a celebrity jury; a supermodel coming in. I don't know how they're gonna pull this off in a maximum security prison. Everything is literally crazy right now. People are running around; the girls are really, really nervous.
All of the staff here is running around, doing every last little detail. It's- it's pretty insane here. [Bianca Zanini]: Nerves are running high in the green room as the ladies prepare for the show. Hair and makeup professionals have been brought in to help (to) beautify the inmates.
The prison administrators have made sure to hire the best-of-the-best. [Bianca Zanini]: It was showtime for Miss Maximum Security. We were able to meet Nairajane's mother on the way in. This is the first time (that) she'll see her daughter in ten months.
[Bianca Zanini]: A strange combination of inmates, relatives, local celebrities and leading Brazilian media companies begin to show up as the MC's take the stage. [Bianca Zanini]: The inmates in the audience were roaring as the pageant was about to begin. [Bianca Zanini]: The panel of celebrity judges has arrived. [Bianca Zanini]: Supermodel Ana Hickmann co-hosts the evening, along with Brazil's most famous TV presenter, Raul Gil.
[Bianca Zanini]: Bianca is first-up to take the stage, kicking off the first walk for the Miss Max pageant. [Bianca Zanini]: Next, Clementina walks for Miss Maturity poised in national costume formalwear. [Bianca Zanini]: It was then time for the much-anticipated Miss Beleza Internacional bathing suit competition. [Bianca Zanini]: Mr.
Max, the category everyone had been waiting for all day, began with a walk-off. [Bianca Zanini]: Now, the jury asks Mr. Max contestants questions about their future. [Bianca Zanini]: Then the walk-off for Miss Congeniality.
[Bianca Zanini]: Nairajane's mother begged the guards to allow her backstage to see her daughter. Finally, they broke protocol and let her in. [Bianca Zanini]: While the celebrity judges tally the votes, and the contestants get dressed into their evening wear, there's a surprise: the male entertainment that were brought in especially for the women at the event. [Bianca Zanini]: The judges are then ready to crown Miss Congeniality.
[Bianca Zanini]: Miss Maturity contestants come out to see who will receive the title. [Bianca Zanini]: It's not everyone's lucky day, but all (of) the women got to shine, feeling more like themselves than they have in a long time. [Bianca Zanini]: The last event of the night is the walk-off for evening wear, followed by the final crowning. [Bianca Zanini]: First, the runner-up is crowned.
[Bianca Zanini]: And now, it's time to crown the winner of Miss International, the most important category of the competition. [Bianca Zanini]: The press was going crazy over Falida. She even appeared on the front page of the national paper the next day. Luckily, I had a chance to catch up with her backstage before she joined the rest of the inmates in the lot outside of the prison.
[Bianca Zanini]: Congratulations! Let me give you a hug! [Falida Djonni Dahlgren]: Thank you! Thank you! [Bianca Zanini]: How are you feeling? [Falida Djonni Dahlgren]: I'm feeling very happy; very excited. [Bianca Zanini]: Tonight felt like real-life Cinderella. Like, right immediately after they gave the last prize, the women transformed back to... What they are right now, which is inmates.
Tomorrow, I'm gonna talk to them, and.. I'll see how they're feeling. It's the day after the big day. To be honest, I don't really know what to expect.
I've only known them for these past few days while they were excited and happy, and it was, you know, not that hard to stay positive. Let's see how they feel tomorrow. [Bianca Zanini]: It's.. Really a lot more than just a pageant.
This is a glimpse of a better life, it's a.. Reason to.. Stay positive in a... Hard reality.
If you want a society where people can actually have a chance to better themselves, we need to give them a space to do so.
And I think that, this pageant and all its silliness and.. Glitter is.. An example of that..
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