Alexander Kronemer (born 19 June 1960, Pennsylvania, United States) is a writer, lecturer, and documentary filmmaker whose work focuses on religious diversity, Islam, and cross-cultural understanding. He is the co-founder and executive producer of Unity Productions Foundation. Alex Kronemer is the co-founder of Unity Productions Foundation (UPF), its Executive Director, and Executive Producer for all UPF Films. He is an internationally known speaker and has published numerous articles newspapers and journals in the US and abroad, including The Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, the Huffington Post and in syndication in international publications as widespread as the UK, Indonesia, Egypt, and Pakistan. He frequently presents at 20,000 Dialogue events, and has appeared as a CNN commentator on several occasions. Mr. Kronemer has won numerous awards for his work in promoting peace and interfaith understanding. A graduate of Harvard Divinity School, he previously served in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Human Rights and was one of the founding staff members who helped establish the U.S. Institute of Peace.[1][2]
Kronemer made several appearances as a CNN commentator most notably during the network's coverage of Hajj in 1998, which was broadcast to 400 million viewers. He has been interviewed by prominent radio networks such as NPR and Voice of America.
Kronemer was Executive Producer of The Noor Inayat Khan Story - Enemy of The Reich, which was produced by Unity Productions Foundation (UPF). The documentary is based on Noor's life. The world premiere was on 15 Feb 2014 in Washington DC.[4][5]
Career
In the summer of 1999, Kronemer began serving as the Middle East Desk Officer for the Office of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor for the State Department. He served appointed as the US Delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Switzerland and briefed senior State Department and White House Officials on issues related to Islam. Kronemer was awarded a commendation for organizing the first State Department "Iftar Dinner" that was hosted by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.[6]
After working with refugees for three years, from November 1989 to May 1999 Kronemer worked in the US Department of Labor, where he worked for ten years performing economic research. He prepared reports and briefings for the Commissioner for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Kronemer also facilitated and led various project teams including one that insured the Department's readiness for Y2K.
Upon completing his masters, from August 1986 to June 1989 Kronemer took a position with the Refugee Education and Employment Program, where he directed the training and job placement services for newly arrived Vietnamese, Cambodian, and former Soviet Union refugees. In an article published by Christian Science in 2003, Kronemer describes his motives for having accepted the post by stating how, "It was my moral duty to do what others had failed to do..."[7]
International reviews–National Geographic International, Nile TV, SBS Australia, Danish Television, NPO Netherlands, Medi1sat Morocco, History Channel Spain, National Geographic Asia
Awards–ine Special Jury Award- 2004, Marharba Special Prize - 2005
International reviews–Al Arabiya, SBS Australia, ZDF Germany, YLE Finland, Al Jazeera, History Channel Spain, SRL Italy
Awards–"Gold" Intermedia- Globe; Hamburg World Media Film Festival- 2008, "Best Documentary"; ITV/ADC Peer Award, Documentary over 30 Minutes- 2008, "Grand Goldie Film Award"; For Excellence in Film- 2007
Awards–"Gold" Intermedia-Globe; Hamburg World Media Festival- 2008, Telly Award- 2008, "Best Documentary"- American Black Film Festival- 2007, Cine Golden Eagle- 2007, Grand Goldie Film Award- For Excellence in Film- 2007
Domestic reviews–PBS through American Public Television
Film Festivals: Official Selection - Seattle Film Festival, Official Selection - Globians Film Festival, Official Selection –Atlanta Film Festival
International reviews–YLE Finland
Awards–"Silver" Intermedia-Globe; Hamburg World Media Film Festival- 2008, Telly Award- 2008, Cine Golden Eagle Award- 2007, Grand Goldie Film Award, For Excellence in Film - 2007
Domestic activity–Commercial release through Truly Indie and Landmark Films – October 2008
Domestic–Executive Program Services – June 2009
Domestic–Executive Program Services – January 2010
The El-Hibri Charitable Foundation production funding for Inside Islam – 2009, Prince among slaves – 2006, Cities of Light – 2004, Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet – 2002
One Nation, a special project of the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors–outreach funding – 20,000 Dialogues – 2008, production funding – Allah made me funny – 2007, Talking through – 2007, On a wing and a Prayer – 2007.
The National Endowment for the Humanities–production funding: Prince among slaves – 2006, 2005, Research and development – Prince among slaves – 2004, 2003.
The National Black Programming Consortium–production funding – Prince among slaves – 2005.
Carnegie Corporation–joint outreach project on Muhammad: Legacy of a prophet and Muslims
Publications
Kronemer has published in newspapers and journals, including The Southern Quarterly, The Christian Science Monitor, the Los Angeles Times, the San Jose Mercury News, Beliefnet.com, and The Washington Post. His articles have been included in several anthologies, including the September 11 memorial book, Up From the Ashes (2001) and Wilber Prize winner, Taking Back Islam (2002).
"Decoupling Crime and Identity after 9/11" - syndicated through Common Ground News Service, September 2011. Reprinted in several Pakistani newspapers including: The Daily Abtak, The Daily Aftab, Daily Gulf News, Takmeel Pakistan and Al Oamar.