Alex Lora
Alex Lora at the New York Emmy Awards, New York, 2022
Born
Àlex Lora Cercós

(1979-09-19) September 19, 1979
Barcelona, Spain
OccupationFilm director
Years active2004-present
Websitealexlora.com

Àlex Lora Cercós (born September 19, 1979), better known as Alex Lora, is a disabled Spanish film director. His films, marked by complex narratives, tackle social issues and have entered hundreds film festivals and received multiple awards and nominations around the world, most notably the three official selections at Sundance, the nomination to the Student Academy Awards, his presence at the Berlinale Talent Campus, the 2 awards of the Gaudí Catalan Academy Awards after 4 other nominations, a nomination for the Goya Academy Awards, and the nomination and the prize at the New York Emmy Awards.[1][2]

Early years

Alex Lora was born in Barcelona, Spain and started making film in very young age after his parents bought a video8 handycam.[3][4] Mr. Lora is a graduate of Barcelona's Ramon Llull University, where he earned BA and MA degrees in filmmaking and writing and directing for fiction.[2]

During this period, he collaborated with Xavi Satorra on two documentaries: “Seria Buenos Aires”[5] exploring the effects of the 2001 crisis in Argentina, and “Peace Camp”, for the Catalan TV, about a group of kids from Israel, Palestine, Iran and Spain, meeting up at the Forum 2004.

In 2007, he takes part of the Berlinale Talent Campus, and directs several short films. One of them, “(En)terrados”, received a nomination at the Gaudi Awards (Spain) in 2010.[6][7][8]

Career

In 2011, as a Fulbright Scholar, he completed his two-year MFA in Media Arts Production program at City College of New York, mentored by Chantal Akerman, where he was a final nominee for the Student Academy Award.[9] Since his graduation, he has worked internationally as script analyst, editor, cinematographer, writer and director. His short film, Odysseus' Gambit, about Saravuth Inn, screened at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012,[3] was nominated to the prestigious Gaudi Awards (Spain) in 2012.[10][11]

His short film "Only Solomon Lee" (2013), was selected in the prestigious Sitges Film Festival.[12][13]

In 2014, Alex co-directs the short film “Godka Cirka", a hole in the sky, about the female genital mutilation in Somalia, produced by Alex Kruz premiering at Sundance. After a long festival run, it wins the Gaudí Awards.[14][15]

His next short film “Parivara”, co-directed with Alex Kruz premiered at Cambridge Film Festival in 2016 and wins best documentary in several countries including the International Film Festival of New York[16][17][18]

Alex's feature documentary debut “Thy Father’s Chair” premiered at IDFA, followed by international Film Festival run.[19][20] It opened theatrically in the US in 2017 and was recognized by The New York Times as a Critics' pick of the month.[21]

His second feature documentary was "The Fourth Kingdom" (2018), received support from the International Documentary Association (IDA) and the Sundance Documentary Fund.[22][23] It narrates the story of immigrants and underdogs in “Sure We Can '' a recycle center in New York.[24][25] It screened at various film festivals such as DOC NYC, Shanghai International Film Festival, Festival de Málaga and Documenta Madrid or PNR.[26] The documentary won several awards, including the 2020 Gaudí for Best Documentary.[27]

In 2020, Alex co-wrote, edited, and co-produced the documentary "Savage Land", which was distributed by PBS in the United States.[28][29]

“We Are Living Things” directed by Antonio Tibaldi, was the first narrative feature film written by Alex Lora, based on his short film “Only Solomon Lee” and “The Fourth Kingdom”. The film, starred by Jorge Antonio Guerrero and Xingchen Lyu, tells the story of two illegal aliens in New York who find each other.[30][31] It premiered at Slamdance Film Festival in the US and in the Deauville Film Festival in Europe. And opened theatrically in the US in August 2022.[32][33][34] The New York Times notes in its review that “writer Alex Lora does much with little”.[35]

"Unicorns" was Alex's narrative feature debut as director.[36] It premiered at the Malaga Film Festival and opened theatrically in Spain in July 2023.[37][38] The film received 16 Berlanga Awards. According to a Variety review, the film highlights Alex's talents in addressing societal angst through themes of sex, drugs, and instagram post.[39][37] Cinemania describes "Unicorns" as an interesting, skillful, and insightful exploration of contemporary challenges.[39]

Àlex Lora-Cercós is a recipient of 7 Emmy for his work as a director, producer and editor during the last 10 years at the CUNY TV Show "Nueva York” at the New York Emmy Awards.[40][41]

References

  1. ↑ IMDB - Àlex Lora biography, , september 19, 2012, Retrieved April 17, 2014
  2. 1 2 The City College of New York - Online Interview with Alex Lora, CCNY Film Program Produces Another Student Academy Award Finalist, June 5, 2012, Retrieved March 20, 2013
  3. 1 2 Yahoo! Advertising Solutions - Online Interview with Alex Lora, Storytelling Tips from Sundance, January 23, 2012, Retrieved March 21, 2013
  4. ↑ Brauni Studio - Online Interview with Alex Lora, Archived March 24, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, February 28, 2014
  5. ↑ ¿Sería Buenos Aires?, May 10, 2011, retrieved December 16, 2023
  6. ↑ "Berlinale Talents (Alex Lora profile)".
  7. ↑ "(En)terrats". www.academiadelcinema.cat. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  8. ↑ Yumpu.com. "MAGAZINE - Berlinale Talent Campus - Top-IX". yumpu.com. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  9. ↑ DocWorks NYC, Profile: Alex Lora, Retrieved March 20, 2013
  10. ↑ IMDB List of Awards and Nominations, Retrieved March 21, 2013
  11. ↑ Official site, Screenings & Awards page Archived June 8, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved March 21, 2013
  12. ↑ "SOLO SOLOMON LEE".
  13. ↑ "ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS – The Fourth Kingdom". Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Sundance Institute Announces Short Film Program for 2014 Sundance Film Festival - sundance.org". December 10, 2013. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Godka Cirka/ A hole in the sky". MAILUKI FILMS. October 23, 2020. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  16. ↑ Kruz, Alex; Lora, Àlex (October 20, 2016), Parivara (Documentary, Short, Drama), Siva Sapkota, Wolf Circle Productions, retrieved December 16, 2023
  17. ↑ "Powerful film "Parivara" written and directed by Alex Lora and Alex Kruz, wins "Best Documentary" in New York | IFFNY". June 10, 2018. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  18. ↑ "Parivara | Inicia Films". www.iniciafilms.com. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  19. ↑ "Thy father's chair | Inicia Films". www.iniciafilms.com. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  20. ↑ www.oberon.nl, Oberon Amsterdam. "Thy Father's Chair (2015) | IDFA Archive". IDFA. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  21. ↑ "Review: Two Hoarders Clean House in 'Thy Father's Chair'".
  22. ↑ "The Fourth Kingdom". International Documentary Association. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  23. ↑ "More than $1.9 Million to Nonfiction Storytellers: Sundance Institute Announces Documentary Fund Grants Across Nonfiction Formats - sundance.org". September 26, 2017. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  24. ↑ "El Cuarto Reino". DocumentaMadrid (in Spanish). Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  25. ↑ "The Fourth Kingdom » Premios Goya 2024". www.premiosgoya.com. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  26. ↑ "Los ganadores de los Premios Goya 2018". El País (in Spanish). February 6, 2018. ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
  27. ↑ "Shanghai International Film Festival (2019)". IMDb. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  28. ↑ "Home". Savage Land Film. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  29. ↑ "Àlex Lora". Aguilar Film Festival (in Spanish). Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  30. ↑ "RKS Film: "We Are Living Things": Dazed and Confused". A Bird's Eye View of Fashion, Food, Travel, Culture, Beverage and Curiosity. August 4, 2022. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  31. ↑ Moore, Roger (August 8, 2022). "Movie Review: Immigrants search for aliens, "We Are Living Things"". Movie Nation. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  32. ↑ "We Are Living Things". slamdancechannel.com. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  33. ↑ "We Are Living Things". Festival du Cinéma Américain de Deauville. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  34. ↑ "Critique - We are living things". mulderville.net. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  35. ↑ "'We Are Living Things' Review: The Truth Is Out There".
  36. ↑ "Unicorns - Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  37. 1 2 McLennan, Callum (March 15, 2023). "Emmy, Goya Doc Winner Àlex Lora Brings Debut Feature 'Unicorns' to Malaga". Variety. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  38. ↑ "Festival de Málaga". festivaldemalaga.com. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  39. 1 2 Cinemanía (June 28, 2023). "'Unicornios': los instagramers frente al espejo de su propio vacío". Cinemanía (in Spanish). Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  40. ↑ "CUNY TV Receives Six N.Y. Emmy Awards". CUNY Newswire. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  41. ↑ "Program Guide | 2024 Sundance Film Festival". festival.sundance.org. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
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