Alex Ranarivelo

Alex Ranarivelo is a French filmmaker known for his sports dramas. Early life He was born into a French-Malagasy family in Saint-Jean-d'Angely, France. His great-grandfather, a Malagasy man, married his great-grandmother, a white woman, in 1910. His family's history would later inspire him to direct several films based around race such as Dirt and The Ride. Ranarivelo moved to the United States when he was 6 years old. He studied film at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. Career After making his feature film debut with the rough-and-tumble romantic comedy from a male perspective Alpha Males Experiment (aka Knuckle Draggers), Ranarivelo was hired to direct the action film Born to Race, which he co-wrote with fellow Art Center alum Steven Sarno. When producer Ali Afshar and executive producer Forrest Lucas created ESX Entertainment, Ranarivelo was brought on to direct their first film, the suspenseful, character-driven The Dog Lover (starring James Remar, Lea Thompson, and Sherry Stringfield). Next came American Wrestler: The Wizard, which follows a 17-year-old Iranian refugee who becomes the high school wrestling champion against adversity during the Iran hostage crisis of 1980. In this period piece, Ranarivelo directed Jon Voight, William Fichtner and discovered newcomers George Kosturos and Lia Marie Johnson. The film won multiple awards on the festival circuit including "Best Picture" and "Best Ensemble" at the Boston Film Festival, the audience award at the Austin Film Festival and the audience award at the Napa Film Festival.