Alexandra Braun Waldeck (, born May 19, 1983) is a

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

n actress,

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

and

beauty queen A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes so ...

who won the

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

edition of

Miss Earth Miss Earth is an annual international major beauty pageant based in the Philippines that advocates for environmental awareness, conservation and social responsibility. Along with Miss World, Miss Universe, and Miss International, it is one ...

, an annual international

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes sol ...

promoting

environmental awareness Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of green ideology and politics, ecologi ...

. Braun has won four international

best actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress award ...

awards in various

film festivals A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent date and depe ...

all over the world for her portrayal of the lead role in the movie, "Uma" at the

London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival held in London, England, in collaboration with the British Film Institute. Founded in 1957, the festival runs for two weeks every October. In 2016, the British Film Institute, BFI estim ...

Monaco International Film Festival The Monaco International Film Festival is an annual international special interest film festival held in Monaco. It is a non-profit organization, formed in December 2003 and founded by Rosana Golden and Dean Bentley The festival focuses on non-vio ...

, the

Milan International Film Festival Milan Film Festival (''MFF'', ') is an annual independent film festival held since 1996 in Milan, Italy. It was founded as a competition of only local short films, but grew to have a feature film competition program along with numerous other sect ...

and the Georgia Latino Film Festival in Atlanta. The film also won recognition in the "Film of the World" category at the

International Film Festival of India The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), founded in 1952, is an annual film festival currently held in Goa, on the western coast of India. The festival aims at providing a common platform for the cinemas of the world to project the excel ...

and won best foreign film at the

Burbank International Film Festival The Burbank International Film Festival (BIFF) is an annual film festival held since 2009 in Burbank, California, United States. It was founded by Val Tonione, and awards are distributed to filmmakers that have focused on social and environmental ...

in the United States.

Early life and background

Growing up in

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

, Braun graduated

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

Marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

and

Advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...

. Her family was from Germany but migrated to Venezuela after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Braun competed in the 2005

Miss Venezuela Miss Venezuela (Spanish: ''Organización Miss Venezuela'') is a Venezuelan beauty pageant operated by the Cisneros Group. Founded in 1952, it currently selects Venezuelan representatives to Miss Universe, Miss World, and Miss International. ...

pageant, and represented

Nueva Esparta The Nueva Esparta State (in Spanish: ''Estado Nueva Esparta'', ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela, states of Venezuela. It comprises Margarita Island, Coche, Venezuela, Coche, and the lightly inhabited Cubagua. The state is located off the ...

where she placed first runner-up; she was then selected by Sambil Model Caracas to represent Venezuela at

held in

Manila, Philippines Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on the island of Luzon, it is ...

. She was crowned

Miss Earth 2005 Miss Earth 2005 was the fifth edition of the Miss Earth pageant, held at the University of the Philippines Theater in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, on October 23, 2005. Priscilla Meirelles of Brazil crowned Alexandra Braun of Venezue ...

on October 23, 2005, where eighty contestants from all over the world took part in the competition. Braun also won the Best in Swimsuit. She was the first Venezuelan to win the competition. Her win made Venezuela the second country after

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

to win all of the "Big Four" pageants. Braun crowned her successor,

Hil Hernández Hil Yesenia Hernández Escobar (born 1 December 1984) is a Chilean people, Chilean journalist, model, environmentalist and beauty queen who won Miss Earth 2006 pageant becoming the first Chilean people, Chilean to win the coveted crown. Person ...

, during the 2006 Miss Earth pageant finale on November 26, 2006, held at the

National Museum A national museum can be a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In the United States, most nati ...

in Manila, Philippines. Her Miss Earth Venezuela successor,

Marianne Puglia Marianne Pasqualina Puglia Martinez (born 26 January 1985) is a Venezuelan actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder. She won Miss Earth - Fire title in 2006. Pageantry & Modelling At the age of 20, she won Miss Aragua 2005 title and partici ...

, was crowned Miss Earth Fire, the equivalent of 3rd runner up. She now has a career as an actress in Venezuela.

Miss Earth reign

During her Miss Earth reign, she met Philippine president

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal-Arroyo (; born April 5, 1947), often referred to as PGMA or GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician who served as the 14th president of the Philippines from Presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, 2001 to 2010 ...

Malacañang Palace Malacañang Palace (, ), officially known as Malacañán Palace, is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the Philippines. It is located in the Manila district of San Miguel, Manila, San Miguel, along Jose Laurel S ...

, which she considered as one of her most memorable experiences. Upon her return to Venezuela after winning the Miss Earth competition, Braun immediately spearheaded a

reforestation Reforestation is the practice of restoring previously existing forests and woodlands that have been destroyed or damaged. The prior forest destruction might have happened through deforestation, clearcutting or wildfires. Three important purpose ...

program in Caracas,

Maracaibo Maracaibo ( , ; ) is a city and municipality in northwestern Venezuela, on the western shore of the strait that connects Lake Maracaibo to the Gulf of Venezuela. It is the largest city in Venezuela and is List of cities in Venezuela by population ...

and

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

with the help of Sambil Organization, the franchise holder of

Miss Earth Venezuela Miss Earth Venezuela is an annual beauty pageant in Venezuela. The winner of Miss Earth Venezuela obtains the right to represent the country in the Miss Earth pageant, an annual international major beauty pageant that advocates for environment ...

contest. It was followed by the launching of the SAMI Tree Program, a fund-raising activity that educates children on the importance of protecting trees to save the environment. In April 2006, she travelled to

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, together with the

Miss Earth Foundation Miss (pronounced ) is an English-language honorific typically used for a girl, for an unmarried woman (when not using another title such as "Doctor" or "Dame"), or for a married woman retaining her maiden name. Originating in the 17th century, i ...

to co-host the

United Nations Environment Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the Declaration of the United Nati ...

UNEP The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the Declaration of the United Nati ...

gala event, The

Champions of the Earth The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) established Champions of the Earth in 2005 as an annual awards programme to recognize outstanding environmental leaders from the public and private sectors and from civil society. Award details T ...

, an annual awards programme to recognize outstanding environmental leaders at a policy level. She co-hosted the awarding ceremony on April 21, 2006, with Eric Falt, UNEP Director of Communications and Public Information. As Miss Earth winner, Braun travelled the world to participate and promote environmental awareness programs with the Philippine-based Miss Earth Foundation. She also visited several countries including

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, and

Life after Miss Earth

Braun's victory in Miss Earth 2005 has made her a household name in Venezuela and different parts of the world specially in the modeling business. She started a new stage of her life when she announced the launch of her own accessories under the brand name "DiBraun Accessories" with her twin sister Karina. She has appeared in a variety of magazines right after her reign including Philippine's 'Women's Journal', Variedades, Man, Ocean Drive,

Maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: Entertainment *Maxim (magazine), ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine ** Maxim (Australia), ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition ** Maxim (India), ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition *Maxim ...

Urbe Urbe ( Genoese: , locally or ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about northwest of Genoa and about northeast of Savona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 847 and an are ...

, and Que Pasa (Chile). Braun is now an established model in

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, appearing in numerous television spots, magazines and advertising campaigns in countries such as Philippines,

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

and her home country of Venezuela. She started her career as an actress in Venezuela with her first movie directed by Abraham Pulido produced in 2012 and show to public in May 2015, "Hasta que la muerte nos separe" is about a model who falls in love with a boxer based on the novel

Othello ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulat ...

by William Shakespeare. She started to make her first appearance in theatre in the play "Boeing Boeing" directed by Tullio Cavalli in August 2013. In 2014 she started her first soap opera called "Amor Secreto" on the TV channel

Venevisión Venevisión () is a Venezuelan free-to-air television channel and one of Venezuela's largest television networks, owned by the Cisneros Media division of Grupo Cisneros. It was founded in 1961 by Diego Cisneros. It is one of the major telenove ...

as Alejandra Altamirano as the antagonist of the history. It was launched in May 2015. In 2016 she was called for performing her second teather play called "Cronicas desquiciadas". In 2016 she made her second movie as the lead role in the movie "UMA" directed by Alain Maiki. In January 2017 started her third feather play called "Relatos Borrachos". In May started a new TV project called "Ellas aman, ellos mienten" and also at the same time started a movie project "Blindados" directed by Carlos Malave. In October 2018 she became Member of the ACACV Venezuelan Arts and Science Cinematography Academy

Career background

Beauty contests

Braun competed in the following pageants:

Catalogs

Ambassador non-profit organizations

Filmography

In December 2017, Braun won Best Actress at the

called the ''Angel Film Awards'' for her performance in a love story movie ''Uma,'' which was produced in Italy by the production company Epic In Motion & AMZ along with Natalia Denegri's Trinitus Productions. The movie also won the Best Film, Best Editing, Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor awards. Braun's performance in the movie Uma further earned her best actress awards in the

and the Georgia Latino Film Festival in Atlanta. In February 2018, she then won the Best Actress for the fourth time for the movie Uma at the

which is produced by the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

which screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shorts from approximately 50 countries.

References

External links

*
Brief biography and interview

- Latest interview with Miss Earth, Alexandra Braun, on winning the beauty competition and how it has changed her life
Portfolio
Alexandra Braun Waldeck's modeling portfolio {{DEFAULTSORT:Braun, Alexandra 1983 births Living people Miss Earth winners Miss Earth 2005 contestants Models from Caracas Actresses from Caracas Venezuelan female models Venezuelan television presenters Venezuelan people of German descent Venezuelan beauty pageant winners Venezuelan women television presenters Universidad Alejandro de Humboldt alumni