Jean-Xavier de Lestrade

• Name — Jean-Xavier de Lestrade • Born — 1 July 1963 • Birthplace — Mirande, France • Occupation — Film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer • Years Active — 1989–present

Lestrade was born in Mirande, Gers, in southwestern France. He studied law and journalism in Paris. He has drawn from these to inform making film documentaries that scrutinize the mechanisms of society, particularly justice systems.

After college, Lestrade started working in journalism. In 1992 Lestrade started making documentaries. He won an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature for his ninth film, Murder on a Sunday Morning (2001). It was about the Brenton Butler case in Jacksonville, Florida. A 15-year-old African-American youth was wrongfully arrested and tried for murder of a woman tourist. He was acquitted. Several months later, another suspect was investigated and prosecuted by law enforcement. A jury convicted him for murder of Mary Stephens. Evidence included his fingerprint on her handbag, which had been recovered. Lestrade is also known for his limited series The Staircase (2004), about the murder trial of author Michael Peterson of Durham, North Carolina. He was charged with killing his wife Kathleen. He produced two followups to the original series, chronicling Peterson's appeals and retrial, one in 2012 and one in 2018. Lestrade is an executive producer for the TV series Sin City Law (2007), which has been shown on the Sundance Channel in the US. His dramatic miniseries Laetitia (2020), based on the murder case of Laetitia Perrais of Nantes, France, was first aired on French TV in 2020. It aired on HBO and HBO Max in late August 2021. While most of his documentaries were in English, in 2023, he directed the six-part true crime series Sambre - Anatomy of a Crime, which was produced in French.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1989 — Beauty Parlor — Cinematographer — Short • 1995 — La cavale des innocents — Director — TV movie • 1998 — Une Australie blanche et pure — Director, Writer & Cinematographer — TV movie Festival International de Programmes Audiovisuels - Reports and Social Issues • La vie jusqu'au bout — Director — TV movie • Des enfants plein d'espoir — TV movie • 1999 — D'un amour à l'autre — TV movie • 2001 — La justice des hommes — Director & Producer — TV movie Albert Londres Prize - Audio-Visual • Murder on a Sunday Morning — Director — Documentary Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Christopher Award - Television & Cable Prix Italia - Documentary - Current Affairs • 2002 — Madame la principale — Producer — TV movie • 2003 — Qui a tué Cécile Bloch? — Writer & Executive Producer — Documentary • Un rêve algérien — Producer — Documentary • 2004 — Soupçons — Director, Writer & Cinematographer — TV mini-series International Documentary Association - Limited Series • L'affaire Dubois — Writer & Executive producer — TV movie • Avant les assises, une affaire de viol — Executive producer — Documentary • Avant les assises, une affaire de meurtre — Documentary • 2006 — L'aventure MSF — Producer — TV mini-series • 2007 — How Much Is Your Life Worth? — Executive producer — TV movie • 2008 — Sur ta joue ennemie — Director, Producer & Writer • Sin City Law — Writer & Producer — TV series (2 episodes) International Documentary Association - Limited Series • 2009 — Hors Série — Director, Producer & Writer — TV series (1 episode) • 2010 — Cigarettes et bas nylon — Producer — TV movie • FBI: Police d'Etat — Co-Producer — TV series (1 episode) • 2011 — Un si long voyage — Executive producer — Documentary • 2012 — La disparition — Director, Writer & Producer — TV movie • 2013 — The Staircase II: The Last Chance — Director, Writer & Executive producer — Documentary • 2014 — 3xManon — Director & Writer — TV mini-series Festival International de Programmes Audiovisuels - Fiction French Syndicate of Cinema Critics - Best Television Series • Infrarouge — Director — TV series (1 episode) • 2015 — Malaterra — TV mini-series • 2016 — Infrarouge — Producer — TV series (1 episode) • 2023 — Sambre - Anatomy of a Crime — Director — TV series (6 episodes)