"Defining Beauty: Ms. Wheelchair America" is more than a film about a beauty contest. Yes, the contestants get dressed up, yet showing off their looks is secondary to the true aim of the documentary: advocacy.
In "Defining Beauty," which will show at the Cucalorus Film Festival in Wilmington on Friday, women from 27 states compete to see who can represent their constituency best. For various reasons, from conditions they were born with to accidents, all of the women are in wheelchairs.

In an interview with the StarNews last week, Alexis Ostrander, director and co-producer of the film, said she wanted to allow the audience to see past the chair and into the women's lives.
"These women are just like other women and I wanted to shed light on that," Ostrander said via Skype.
The film follows several of the 2010 Ms. Wheelchair America contestants as they vie for the crown at the finals in South Dakota. Among those in the running is Ms. Wheelchair North Carolina 2009, Erika Bogan.
Bogan, 30, who's the mother of three girls, had her life changed forever on Jan. 20, 2002, when she was forced into a vehicle by a raging boyfriend.
"He was doing 75 miles per hour in a 35 zone and lost control," Bogan said via Skype.
She was thrown from the vehicle and spent two and a half months in a coma. When she awoke, doctors informed her she had a spinal cord injury and would need a wheelchair for mobility.
"At that moment, I could have given up," Bogan said. "I realized instead that things happen for a reason,"
She was originally approached about the Ms. Wheelchair competition at a Surfers Healing event, an organization that allows people with disabilities the chance to enjoy the water.