Alex Rotaru

"My childhood was like ALL THAT JAZZ... set in Communist Romania." - Alex Rotaru Alex Rotaru is an internationally known, multi-award winning filmmaker. A polymath born in Romania, he moved to the US after a successful career in film acting which led to the highest distinction available to Romanian young actors, to pursue a degree in Physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology - where he graduated at the top of his class with a 5.0 GPA and a degree in Theoretical Physics. Inspired by studying cinema at the Sorbonne in Paris, Alex switched gears and earned a Film Production MFA from University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts. After graduating, he directed several award-winning, character-driven, emotionally charged documentaries, including the New York Times Critic's Pick THEY CAME TO PLAY, and SHOWTIME Networks' SHAKESPEARE HIGH, produced by Dana Brunetti, Dean Devlin and Kevin Spacey. Meanwhile, as an official U.S. Department of State cultural ambassador, Alex traveled the world far and wide to educate and entertain in numerous cultural exchange programs; invited often to be a member of international film festival juries, he is culturally open, adaptable and flexible. Alex is often hired to write or edit screenplays, direct theatre, and teach production master classes. Currently, he is in post-production with a scripted narrative/experimental supernatural horror fantasy feature he wrote, directed and produced, MISSING TIME, about the unreliable nature of human memory and experience of subjective reality; and with MONA/LISA and GONNA FLY NOW, two feature-length biographical documentaries he directed and produced about unsung heroines. These two powerful women belonging to the U.S. and world artistic stage are: NYC Drama Desk Award-nominated actor/pianist/author, Mona Golabek; and twice Oscar-nominated songwriter/singer of "Gonna Fly Now" from ROCKY fame, Carol Connors. Recipient of a Christopher Award for PBS POV's THE HOBART SHAKESPEAREANS, Alex is best known for his ability to extract unexpected amounts of emotion from interviewees, and getting to the bottom of their deepest stories - as seen in his biographical documentary work with U.S. Poet Laureates of Congress such as Louise Glück, John Ashbury, W.S. Merwin, Anthony Hecht, and Kay Ryan. A SAG must-join actor, Alex can be seen on stage several times a year in Shakespeare readings at The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles. He lives in Beverly Hills with his son Max.