Brave Miss World is a 2013 American-Israeli

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

film, directed and produced by

Cecilia Peck Cecilia Peck (born May 1, 1958) is an American film producer, director and actress. She is the younger of two children of actor Gregory Peck and his second wife Veronique Passani. Career As an actress, Peck was nominated for the Golden Globe Aw ...

. It follows Miss Israel Linor Abarjil who won the title of

Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Mi ...

in 1998, after being assaulted just weeks prior, as she spreads global awareness around sexual assault.

Sharon Stone Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress and film producer. Known for primarily playing femmes fatales and women of mystery on film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the ...

served as a co-executive producer on the film. It had its world premiere at the

Dallas International Film Festival The Dallas International Film Festival (DIFF) is an annual film festival that takes place in Dallas, Texas. The 2025 edition will be held April 25-May 1, 2025. DIFF 2024 was held April 25-May 1, 2024. DIFF 2023 was held April 28-May 5, 2023. Th ...

on April 10, 2013. It had a theatrical release on November 15, 2013, followed by digital streaming on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

on May 29, 2014.

Synopsis

In 1998,

Linor Abargil Linor Abargil (, sometimes spelled ''Linor Aberjil''; born February 17, 1980) is an Israeli attorney, actress, model and beauty queen who won the Miss World 1998, shortly after being raped. Since then, she has become a global advocate in the figh ...

won the title of

, a beauty pageant after being sexually assaulted weeks prior. Abargil raises global awareness around sexual assault.

Joan Collins Dame Joan Henrietta Collins (born 23 May 1933) is an English actress, author and columnist. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Awards, a People's Choice Award, two Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Primetime Emm ...

and

Fran Drescher Francine Joy Drescher (born September 30, 1957) is an American actress and trade unionist. She is currently serving as the national president of the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). She pla ...

also appear in the film.

Cast

Alison Botha ''Alison'' is a 2016 South African documentary film directed, written and produced by Uga Carlini. The film is based on the real life abduction, rape, stabbings, abandonment and then survival of Alison Botha in 1994. Botha appears as her older ...

Production

began meeting with directors to encourage victims of sexual assault to speak out, seek help, and seek justice, and began meeting with film directors in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and met with

, after seeing her previous film '' Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing''. Abargil always wanted to make a documentary in order for people not to feel alone and to reach more people than she could in person, taking her 10 years to gain the courage. The film was shot over the course of five years, as Abargil traveled the world giving speeches and meeting with victims of assault. Peck initially thought the film would be a quick shoot, but production paused several times in order to raise additional money, and the process was difficult for Abargil, also upon discovering her assaulter had been furloughed. In attempt to raise more money, the crew edited a trailer and launched an

Indiegogo Indiegogo is an American crowdfunding website founded in 2008 by Danae Ringelmann, Slava Rubin, and Eric Schell. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, California. The site is one of the first sites to offer crowd funding. Indiegogo allows peo ...

campaign, apart from asking friends and family for donations, before eventually securing the funds to continue production.

serves as a co-executive producer on the film.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the

on April 10, 2013. It also screened at the AFI Docs Film Festival on June 21, 2013. The film was released in a

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

on November 15, 2013, as part of an awards qualifying run for the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

. Shortly after,

acquired distribution rights to the film and released it on May 29, 2014.

Impact

The producers of the film launched a website ''bravemissworld.com'' to share their stories of assault and to keep up with Abargil as she continues to raise awareness having over 10 million visitors on the website. The film also screens on college campuses across the United States to continue to raise awareness of sexual assault.

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 2514298 2013 films American documentary films Israeli documentary films 2013 documentary films Documentary films about violence against women Films about beauty queens 2010s English-language films 2010s Hebrew-language films Films about rape Sexual abuse victims advocacy Rape in the United States Netflix original documentary films Films scored by Hans Zimmer 2013 multilingual films American multilingual films Israeli multilingual films 2010s American films English-language documentary films Hebrew-language documentary films