While most people are crazy over the latest trend of deep-fried Korean chicken, there are others who are obsessed with how they look. And by this, I mean chicken beauty pageants. Yes, there are beauty contests for chickens.
In parts of
Southeast Asia, namely Indonesia and Malaysia, there are communities made up of
chicken owners who spend countless of hours grooming and training their
chickens to compete in chicken beauty pageants. These chickens have the confidence,
style and poise that might even put models to shame.
In Chicken Beauty Pageant, a 14-minute
short documentary film, we enter the world of chicken beauty pageants in
Indonesia and Malaysia, where champion Serama chickens are worth up to tens of
thousands of dollars.
Champion Serama chickens can be worth up to tens of thousands of dollars
Chicken Beauty Pageant brings an interesting community in the spotlight. Hooking
me instantly with its eye-catching opening graphics and its quirky soundtracks,
the film does a great introduction of its subject. It dives into a world filled
with overly enthusiastic chicken owners, who are fired up in ensuring that
their chickens perform their best on that day.
One example of
such a chicken beauty pageant is ASEAN Serama Cup held in Kediri, Indonesia.
The chickens are judged based on their liveliness, their anatomy, their body
parts and even their style. A lot of emphasis is placed on the chicken’s comb.
If the comb is crooked, masking tapes are pasted on the chicken’s comb to
ensure its straightness. Some even go as far as to allow chicken beauticians to
operate on the chicken’s comb, cutting it piece by piece, into their ideal
shape.
Masking tapes are pasted on the chicken’s comb to ensure its
straightness
Providing
different insights on the makings of a crowned pageant winner, Chicken Beauty Pageant keeps you
glued to the screen with its unconventional editing. The film follows King
Dien, the first Serama chicken in Indonesia to have five consecutive wins. King
Dien was bought at a prize of $2000 (USD), but after it was crowned champion,
its value has doubled.
There is
pressure placed on pageant winners and hence pageant preparations are not taken
lightly. Owners feed their Serama chickens various foods, different from what
normal chickens have, including expensive vitamins. From dieting to its walk
and appearance, owners feel a sense of duty to groom their poultry into
champions. Hoping to gain as many points as possible in the pageant, this
becomes a quest for perfection.
With chicken
beauticians emphasizing the importance of the chicken’s appearance, the film
also reveals the close relationship and mutual understanding that is essential
between the chicken and its owner.
On the day of
the pageant, owners can be seen screaming and dancing wildly, in hopes to get
their chickens to respond and follow their actions. They do all kinds of silly
things, despite not knowing if their chickens can understand them.
A chicken owner dancing wildly in hopes to get his chicken to follow him
What further
surprises me is their constant thirst for wanting more, the chicken
enthusiasts are never satisfied with what they have, and are always eager to
have something better. In search of potential pageant winners, chicken owners
hope that the offspring of their ex-champion chickens will be able to live up
to their bloodline. An informative yet interesting story, this documentary
certainly engages its audience visually, leaving us wanting for more.
Premiering
as part of the Discovery Channel
Jumpcut short film series featuring untold stories of Southeast Asia, you can
now catch a slightly different version of Chicken Beauty Pageant here.
Chicken Beauty
Pageant is a short documentary film by filmmakers Amrit Kaur Jastol, Jessica
Novia, Eunice Tan and Nur Amirah Haris. The film won Best Editing in
Documentary Film Award at the National Youth Film Awards 2016.
The film will be
screened as part of the screenings of last year’s winners. You can watch it on
1 July 2017 from 7 – 9pm at *SCAPE Gallery Level 5.
Find out more about the screenings and other talks and workshops which form part of the coming NYFA weekend here.
Find out more about the screenings and other talks and workshops which form part of the coming NYFA weekend here.
