An Interview with Director Alex Lexton
by Geneva Anderson (October 9, 2026)
Alexandra Lexton, Photo: In Her Image Photography
An interest in the bonds that tie us to one another eternally and in afterdeath communication drives Sebastopol director Alexandra Lexton’s fascinating docudrama, “This Bright Light,” which has its world premiere at the Mill Valley Film Festival (MVFF49) on Saturday, October 10th. Marking Lexton’s fourth film at MVFF, this mostly Bay Area-shot story traces the loving but turbulent sweep of Marin rhythmic gymnast Tamarin Luchessa’s life. Her Olympic dreams were crushed by the onset of increasingly debilitating health issues that plagued her for over two decades until her death at age 42. Still, she managed to live life with extraordinary intensity.