Brave Miss World

A film by Cecilia Peck
Produced by Cecilia Peck, Inbal B. Lessner & Motty Reif

USA/Israel/South Africa/Italy | 2013 | 88 minutes | Color | DVD | Multiple Languages | Subtitled | Order No. 161194

SYNOPSIS

In October 1998, eighteen-year-old Linor Abargil was stabbed and raped while working as a model in Milan. Weeks later she was crowned Israel’s first Miss World. Over the course of five years, director Cecilia Peck (Shut Up & Sing) follows Abargil, on a mission to confront the trauma of her past, including a hunt for other victims of the man who raped her, preventing his parole. Abargil, a poised, magnetic and supremely empathic advocate travels from Hollywood to rape crisis centers, American college campuses and the townships of South Africa to share her story and inspire others to confront shame and to heal. Emmy nominated BRAVE MISS WORLD is a call for justice and a startlingly honest portrayal of how personal tragedy can be transformed into a global awareness campaign against sexual violence.

This special edition includes both the theatrical version (88min) and the educational version (60min), which is tightly paced and specifically designed for student audiences. Also included are exclusive bonus scenes, a report by Gloria Allred on a previously unpublished campus rape investigation, survivor testimonials and filmmaker interviews.

PRESS

"A riveting documentary. A courageous celebration of survival..."

Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Impassioned and inspiring..."

LA Times

"The coming together of two remarkable women, Linor and documentary filmmaker Cecilia Peck."

Amy Goodman Democracy Now

SCREENING HIGHLIGHTS AND AWARDS

  • Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival, Best Documentary Audience Award
  • JFilm Pittsburgh, Best Documentary Audience Award
  • Seattle Jewish Film Festival, Best Documentary, Audience Award
  • WeWorld Intervita, Best Film Award
  • Lady Filmmakers Film Festival, Best Documentary, Best of Fest
  • Chicago International Film Festival
  • Denver International Film Festival
  • Doc NYC
  • Athena Film Festival
  • AFI DOCS
  • Napa Valley Film Festival

ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)

Cecilia Peck

Prior to directing and producing the Emmy nominated BRAVE MISS WORLD, Cecilia Peck directed and produced, with Barbara Kopple, the feature-length documentary SHUT UP & SING. The film, shortlisted for the 2007 Academy Awards, was named Best Documentary by the Boston Society of Film Critics and the San Diego Film Critics, won Best Documentary at the Sydney, Aspen, and Woodstock Film Festivals, and won the Jury Prize at the Toronto and the Chicago Film Festivals. It received the Courage in Film Award from the Women Film Critics Circle, the Wyatt Award from the Southeastern Film Critics Circle, and was nominated for a Broadcast Critics Award and a National Film Critics Award.

Cecilia produced and directed the short JUSTICE FOR ALL, an examination of the capital punishment system, which won a Silver Gavel Award. She produced A CONVERSATION WITH GREGORY PECK, an intimate portrait of her legendary father, which was a Special Selection in the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, and a special presentation for TCM and PBS American Masters. She also produced ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE HAMPTONS, a four hour documentary series for ABC primetime.

As an actress, she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her performance in THE PORTRAIT. She portrayed a Palestinian school teacher in TORN APART. She studied dance with Martha Graham and performed in "American Document," the last ballet choreographed by Miss Graham. She has been contributing editor at Premiere Magazine, French edition, and Moving Pictures Magazine, and served on the jury at the Aspen Shortsfest. A graduate of Princeton University, she lives with her husband and two children in Los Angeles. (5/16)

Inbal B. Lessner

Inbal B. Lessner, ACE, is an Emmy® and Eddie-nominated editor and producer. On her latest project, “SEDUCED: Inside the NXIVM Cult,” which she co-created with her filmmaking partner, Director Cecilia Peck, she takes on the roles of Lead Editor, Writer and Executive Producer. This four-part documentary series, premiering on STARZ, follows one young woman’s perilous journey through the dark and criminal world of NXIVM, the notorious self-help-group-turned-sex-slave-cult.

Inbal and Cecilia Peck’s last collaboration was the Emmy-nominated feature documentary Brave Miss World, which debuted on Netflix in 2014. It is the story of an Israeli beauty queen, who was raped seven weeks prior to her winning the Miss World pageant, and her crusade to reach out to fellow survivors while trying to keep her own rapist behind bars.

In 2019, Inbal edited and co-produced “The Movies: The Golden Age,” executive produced by Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman and Mark Herzog. This was the latest in her 4-year-long collaboration with the team that produced CNN's Emmy-nominated "Decades” series. Inbal has edited seven episodes in the series and was nominated for an ACE Editing Award for “The Nineties: Can We All Get Along.”

Inbal’s editing credits include ReMastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke (Netflix Original, Dir. Kelly Duane), nominated for an Outstanding Documentary NAACP Image Award, and Autism: The Sequel, (HBO, Dir. Tricia Regan), a follow-up to the Emmy-winning Autism: The Musical (2007). She edited and co-produced the internationally acclaimed, award-winning, I Have Never Forgotten You, about Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal. Inbal also directed the docudrama Night Bites and was second-unit producer on the HBO/ARTE documentary Watermarks.

Over the course of her career, Inbal has worked in the cutting rooms of directors such as Davis Guggenheim (Teach), R.J. Cutler (“American Candidate”), Kief Davidson and Daniel Junge (A Lego Brickumentary), Jeremy Simmons (“Transgeneration”), Tracy Droz Tragos (Be Good, Smile Pretty) as well as Natalie Portman's feature directorial debut (A Tale of Love and Darkness).

Inbal began making films when she was in high school and later produced training films for the Israeli Defense Forces. At NYU, she was the recipient of the prestigious, merit-based, WTC Johnson Fellowship, awarded to one student filmmaker a year. Since moving to Los Angeles, Inbal has edited hundreds of hours of non-scripted network and cable television shows. She was also a Visiting Professor at UNCSA Film School, and a mentor in the Karen Schmeer Diversity in the Edit Room Program. (10/20)

Motty Reif

Motty Reif is one of the leading producers in Israel. Motty began his over 20 year career in fashion productions, and for many years created produced and directed hundreds of fashion and lifestyle events and television productions in Israel and abroad. Through his companies Meymad-Motty Reif, and Abot Reif Hameiri, he produced many of the leading TV game shows, TV series, reality shows, and late night shows, including the Israeli versions of "Survivor," "Beauty and the Geek," and "The Bachelor." Motty was also the owner of the largest modeling and talent agency LOOK, responsible for discovering many Israeli talents in fashion, film, stage, and music. He produced the documentary LIFE AFTER TOMORROW, directed by Gil Cates, and most recently has produced Gindi Tel Aviv Fashion Week. Reif is an active member of Israel Friends of Beit Hatfuzot which seeks to advance and make accessible educational and cultural activities to all young audiences.

Motty met Linor when she was 16 years old, and they began a friendship and professional partnership that carried her through the difficult months following her rape, and has ultmately has led to the fulfillment of this project. (5/16)

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