Alexa Karolinski (born 1984) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

writer, director and producer whose work includes music videos, commercials, film and television. She is the creator of the television drama ''

Unorthodox Unorthodox may refer to: Music * Unorthodox (band), an American doom metal band * ''Unorthodox'' (Edge of Sanity album), 1992 * ''Unorthodox'' (Snow Tha Product album), 2011 * "Unorthodox" (Joey Badass song), 2013 * "Unorthodox" (Wretch 32 so ...

'' (2020).

Filmmaking career

Alexa received an MFA in Social Documentary Film from The School of Visual Arts, NYC where Karolinski’s break-out film, was her thesis work 'Oma & Bella', which is a

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

about her grandmother (“Oma”) and her grandmother’s best friend (“Bella”), two women with very different personalities united by their shared trauma of Nazi persecution. The film follows the two survivors as they go about their daily routines of cooking, arguing, and discussing their experiences. The film premiered at the

Berlin Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

, and won Karolinski the prestigious Grimme Prize. Karolinski’s second feature documentary, Lebenszeichen (Signs of Life), was an essay film about the different ways Jews and gentiles in Germany ritualize their historical burden. It was released in 2018 to great critical acclaim.

Der Spiegel (, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

, called it “the German-Jewish work of its generation.” Starting in 2013, Karolinski started her long-running collaboration with the fashion brand

Eckhaus Latta Eckhaus Latta is an American fashion brand with locations in Los Angeles and New York City. The brand is known for their use of unexpected materials, exploring texture and tactility in their designs, and for incorporating writing, performance, a ...

. The videos she produced and directed for the LA-based brand have been shown at the

Museum of Art and Design The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), based in Manhattan, New York City, collects, displays, and interprets objects that document contemporary and historic innovation in craft, art, and design. In its exhibitions and educational programs, the ...

, MOCA Los Angeles,

MoMA PS1 MoMA PS1 is a contemporary art institution at 2201 Jackson Avenue in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens in New York City, United States. In addition to its exhibitions, the institution organizes the Sunday Sessions performance series, th ...

, as well as Galerie Isabella Bortlozzi, in Berlin. In 2016, Karolinski started her ongoing art-video collaboration with writer/artist Ingo Niermann for their fil
Army of Love
It premiered at the Berlin Biennale and has since been included in exhibitions at the

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

, MACBA,

Castello di Rivoli The Rivoli Castle is a former Residence of the Royal House of Savoy in Rivoli (Metropolitan City of Turin, Italy). It is currently home to the Castello di Rivoli – Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, the museum of contemporary art of Turin. In 1997, ...

, as well as CCCB and the Wiesbaden Biennale. Their second installment of the series
OCEANO DE AMOR
was part of a three month exhibition Auto Italia gallery in London, and had its world premiere at CPH:DOX in Copenhagen in March 2020 and played o
MUBI
in 2021. In 2017, Karolinski directed the film ''Fashion at War: Crafting the Nazi Brand'' for

Condé Nast Condé Nast () is a global mass media company founded in 1909 by Condé Nast (businessman), Condé Montrose Nast (1873–1942) and owned by Advance Publications. Its headquarters are located at One World Trade Center in the FiDi, Financial Dis ...

's M2M about Hugo Boss his involvement in making Nazi uniforms. Karolinski and

Anna Winger Anna Winger (née LeVine; born 1970) is an American writer, producer, screenwriter, and photographer who lives in Berlin, Germany. She is co-creator of the television dramas ''Deutschland 83,'' '' Deutschland 86,'' '' Deutschland 89,'' and ''Unor ...

served as co-creators and co-writers of the miniseries ''

,'' which debuted on March 26, 2020 and is

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

's first eve
Yiddish show

Cookbook

As an accompaniment to her film Oma & Bella, Karolinski wrote a cookbook with the same name that has sold out of its 3rd edition. The cookbook was released along with the film.

Early life

Karolinski was born to a Canadian mother and German father in

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

. She grew up in the city’s small, recovering Jewish community. She now lives between

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karolinski, Alexa German women film directors Mass media people from Berlin School of Visual Arts alumni German documentary filmmakers 20th-century German Jews Film people from Los Angeles Living people Women documentary filmmakers 1984 births