Неміс-палестиналық режиссер: Лекси Александердің өмір жолы мен шығармашылығы

German television director

Alexandra Mirai (الكسندرا ميراي; born 23 August 1974), known professionally as Lexi Alexander, is a German Palestinian and is best known for directing the action films Green Street and Punisher: War Zone. Her debut short film Johnny Flynton was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.

Alexander was born in Mannheim, Germany, to a German mother and a Palestinian father. She grew up in Mannheim. Alexander's father was born and raised in Ramallah, Palestine. Alexander studied acting in Los Angeles at Joanne Baron's acting school learning Meisner technique and with acting coach Piero Dusa. She took extension classes in filmmaking at University of California, Los Angeles.

Alexander began studying martial arts, specifically judo, when she was 8 years old. At 14, she switched to Shotokan karate. She has a third degree black belt in karate. She won the German point fighting championships four times and the European championships two times. At the age of 19, she retired from professional fighting and moved to the United States. Alexander had met Chuck Norris at a kickboxing event in the United States and she had previously acted in small roles in German TV. Norris encouraged her to come to Hollywood to act and study filmmaking. He was one of her sponsors for immigration. Alexander went on to work steadily as a stunt person doing fighting stunts and motorcycles, falls from high rise buildings, going on to learn precision driving and race car driving. She also partially trained Marines in hand to hand combat one time in 1994.

The first film Alexander directed was called Johnny Flynton, a short film that was nominated for an Academy Award in 2003. She said that the film, about a boxer from Alabama who is charged with murder, is a fictional story that was inspired by meeting a boxer in Germany when she was 9 years old, an interaction that she remembered and was the basis of the idea for the film. In 2005, Alexander directed her first full length feature film called Green Street, also known as Green Street Hooligans, or Hooligans. and was produced by Gigi Pritzker and Deborah Del Prete. Green Street Hooligans was inspired by her experience growing up watching her family's favorite German soccer team Waldhof Mannheim, which led to a fascination with the sport and its passionate fans. Inspired by this, Alexander co wrote a screenplay with a former soccer hooligan turned writer, Dougie Brimson, and Joshua Shelov based on a story by Alexander and Brimson about the firm of West Ham United. In 2008, Alexander directed the film Punisher: War Zone starring Ray Stevenson as the Punisher. She was the first woman to direct a Marvel adaptation and it was her first studio film. The film has since become considered a cult classic. Comedian Patton Oswalt was an early and vocal defender of the film. Alexander has been outspoken about her experience with Punisher. The film's budget shrank considerably, and Alexander wanted to work on a studio film so she said she was hired at a low rate. Then, during marketing, that budget was also low, and, in her opinion, the Christmas release date a mis step. She also mentioned that due the film developing a cult following, she's since mainly been optioned scripts with extreme levels of violence, which she passes on because she's naturally "squeamish." In 2011, Alexander wrote and directed the straight to video film Lifted, shot in Alabama, which had themes of Christianity. The film starred Dash Mihok, Nicki Aycox and Uriah Shelton. Lifted tells the story of a son's difficulty with his father's deployment in Afghanistan as a Marine, and features musical performances by Shelton and Mihok. In 2012, Alexander directed an episode for Anthony Zuiker's BlackBoxTV YouTube channel entitled "Execution Style." However, in January 2020, Benoit's son David stated that the project had been cancelled. In February 2018, it was announced that Alexander was working on a TV series for Blumhouse Productions called You Bury Me, intended to be a war torn love story set in modern day Iraq, Syria and Turkey. In June 2018, Alexander was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Alexander has a long term working relationship with martial artist Pat Johnson, who she has hired as a stunt coordinator and choreographer since starting her directing her career.

In early 2014, on her Twitter feed and in a blog post that was republished and widely discussed, Alexander discussed the lack of women directors in Hollywood and lifted back the curtain on the lack of gender parity in the entertainment industry. Alexander has been outspoken on Hollywood sexism and has spoken at length about the directorial opportunities she says were denied to her because of her gender. In a 2014 interview she stated that she and director Catherine Hardwicke were denied a meeting to discuss possibly directing The Fighter, as the producers were not interested in hiring a woman to direct. Alexander worked to support the American Civil Liberties Union investigation into gender bias in hiring practices, specifically for women directors, which cast a critical eye on the role of the Directors Guild of America. Film school graduates have gender parity, but once in the industry, the percentage of women hired ranges from 8% in 2017 to less than 6%. In 2015, Alexander testified about her experiences as part of an investigation by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on hiring practices in Hollywood. Alexander has said she is against illegal file sharing but instead supports innovative file sharing over big businesses exploiting digital distribution models. Alexander thinks the money used by the MPAA would be better spent improving diversity and more equitable distribution models.

Year Title Director Writer Producer Actor Notes 1997Boy Meets World Role: SonjaEpisode: "Last Tango in Philly" 2012BlackBoxTV Episode: "AEZP: Execution Style" 2015Arrow Episode: "Beyond Redemption" 2016Supergirl Episode: "Truth, Justice and the American Way"Limitless Episode: "A Dog's Breakfast"American Gothic Episode: "Kindred Spirits" 2017Taken Episode: "Hail Mary"How to Get Away with Murder Episode: "I Love Her" 2018S. W. A. T. Episode: "Day Off" 2019L. A. 's Finest Episode: "Thief" TBAYou Bury Me Pre production