Köken Ergun’s Binibining Promised Land (2009–2010) and in-depth interview with James Dandan (James Dandan talks about Beauty Pageants, 2010) document a beauty pageant organised by the Filipino migrant worker community in Israel. More than a simple contest, the event invites the participants to share their dreams and hopes against the backdrop of the living conditions in their host country. The contest raises questions of identity and representation and offers an opportunity to revive traditions and a sense of national belonging.

Ergun’s cinéma-vérité style documentary captures the event from within, featuring a wide range of unfiltered emotions and personal perspectives. It draws its strength from the complicity that exists between the filmmaker and the protagonists and their honest sharing as exemplified in the conversation with James Dandan.

The screening will be followed by a conversation between Köken Ergun and M+ CHANEL Lead Curator of Moving Image Silke Schmickl in English.

Köken Ergun (b. 1976, Türkiye) is an artist and filmmaker who lives and works in Istanbul. His work investigates the history and living conditions of lesser-known communities and their culture-specific rituals. As a result of an extended research and long-term engagement with his subjects, he also collaborates with ethnographers, historians, and sociologists for publications and lecture series as extensions to his artistic practice. Ergun holds two PhDs in ancient Greek literature from King’s College London and in Theatre Studies from Freie Universität Berlin. His work has been shown internationally at film festivals and art institutions including Documenta 14, Palais de Tokyo, SALT, and Jakarta Biennale.