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Alex Leff
Alex Leff earned a Bachelor of Arts studying documentary film at Hampshire College in Massachusetts, USA. earned a Bachelor of Arts studying documentary film at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. Alex has directed two feature films on the climate justice movement. Students & Goliath (2013) was hailed by eminent environmentalist Bill McKibben and In The Path of Resistance (2016) was the official 2016 selection at the Colorado Environmental Film Festival and broadcast internationally, translated into Spanish, Arabic, and Russian.
Alex's latest documentary film, Cycle of Memory, has taken him on a much more personal journey when his grandfather lost his memory to dementia.
Alex has been fascinated by his grandparents' stories ever since he was old enough to listen. Here were these people who lived entire lifetimes in the world just as he was getting to know it. Being able to peer into the history they’ve lived through feels like a real life time machine.
Alex has found immense value in bridging the generational divide and exchanging our perspectives, questions, and experiences - a quality he believes is instilled in his new film.
Cycle of Memory follows Alex and his younger sibling Koby as they try to uncover the past and capture the present, in order to be remembered in the future. Guided by old photographs of the 1945 trip, they search for places aged by time. But while searching for Grandpa Mel’s past, the two are confronted with their own fraught history. If they’re going to complete the turbulent journey, they’ll have to face their own emotional potholes and tumultuous relationship.
With the help of a grandmother learning to live alone for the first time, Mel’s lifelong friend and co-adventurer on the bike trip, and a family collection spanning 1950s film reels to 1990s video tapes, Cycle of Memory explores the importance of intergenerational connection, healing painful pasts, and leaving a meaningful time capsule for the future.
You can watch the trailer on our website here
Join our mailing list to learn how to screen the film
Or contact Alex Leff at alex@cycleofmemory.com