Alex Rockwell
Associate Arts Professor
Alexandre Rockwell is perhaps best known for his works, In the Soup and 13 Moons. His ability to bring to the screen colorful characters that are both intricate and flawed, as well as his use of classical techniques and sheer creativity to tell stories has made him one of the most well-respected figures in independent film.
Rockwell went to Paris to train in filmmaking with his grandfather, Animator Alexandre Alexeieff and his grandmother, American artist, Claire Parker during his late teens. He later attended the Cinematheque Francaise where he formally studied the craft, and by the 1980’s he had managed to establish himself in the independent film arena.
His first feature film, Lenz, was shown at the 1982 Berlin Film Festival. He returned to Berlin with his next feature film made for ZDF named Hero, which went on to win the Jury Prize at the then named USA Film Festival in Park City Utah. Rockwell continued to build his reputation over the next ten years until his breakout film, In the Soup, starring Steve Buscemi, Seymour Cassel, and Jennifer Beals. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at The 1992 Sundance Film Festival and was released to tremendous praise winning multiple awards. At prominent film festivals.
Since then, Rockwell has continued to direct well respected offerings such as Four Rooms (which he co-directed with Quentin Tarantino, Alison Anders, and Robert Rodriguez), Somebody to Love starring Rosie Perez and Harvey Keitel, and later that year, the successful comedy 13 Moons starring Steve Buscemi, Peter Dinklage, and other Rockwell regulars including Sam Rockwell and Jennifer Beals. In 2011, he went on to direct Peter Dinklage and Tim Roth in the cult favorite Pete Smalls is Dead.
In 2016, Rockwell made the critically acclaimed festival hit Little Feet which starred his two children; Lana and Nico. The film won the prestigious Piazolla prize at the Mar Del Plata Film Festival. It went on to receive great acclaim worldwide, including at Toronto and Rome Film Festivals, and opened in New York City and Los Angeles later that year.
In 2017, Rockwell was appointed the Head of the Directing department at Grad Film where he has mentored and taught many of the indie film world’s most promising new voices, passing on his passion and love of filmmaking to a new generation of auteur filmmakers.
Mr. Rockwell is following up the success of Little Feet (2015) with the world premiere of Sweet Thing, again starring his two children Nico and Lana in the ‘Generation Selection’ of 70th international Berlin Film Festival in February 2020.