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Aleksej Aleksandrovič Šaad was born on August 30, 1990 in Kaskelen, Kazakhstan (then: Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union). When he was three years old, the family moved to Germany as ethnic German immigrants and settled in Mengen. Schaad made his directorial debut while still in high school in 2009, with a contribution to the project '361 Degrees of Tolerance', a video competition for students on the topic of "Courage against right-wing violence". After graduating from high school, he gained further practical film experience through various jobs in the fields of film, television and theater. He also realized several short films in which his brother Dimitrij Schaad participated as an actor.
In 2013 Alex Schaad began studying directing at the Munich University of Television and Film (HFF). There he realized several short and medium-length films. In January 2016, his 30-minute feature film "Invention of Trust" (2015) premiered at the Max Ophüls Prize Film Festival in Saarbrücken, Germany. The story of a teacher (Dimitrij Schaad) who is blackmailed into publicly releasing his private Internet data received the award for Best Medium-Length Film, with the jury especially praising the screenplay (written by both brothers), the acting and the camera work. In summer 2016, Schaad also won the Student Acadamy Award in gold for "Invention of Trust."
Schaad's "Endling," again 30 minutes long, also premiered at the 2018 Max Ophüls Prize Film Festival. The drama about a miner who wants to give his life meaning once again in the face of illness and the closure of his coal mine won the Audience Award for Best Medium-Length Film. Together with Dirk Schäfer, Schaad then realized the episodic documentary "Forever Flüchtling" (2018).
After graduating from the HFF, Schaad realized "Part Of The World" for the episodic film "The Love Europe Project", which included contributions from ten directors from nine countries. At the Grimme Award ceremony, "The Love Europe Project" won in the fiction category. Several works for television followed, including two episodes of the crime series "SOKO Hamburg" (2021).
In 2021, Alex Schaad made his first feature-length film: the drama "Aus meiner Haut" ("Skin Deep") told the story of a body swap between two couples that gets out of hand. Schaad had again written the screenplay with his brother Dimitrij, who also took on a leading role. The film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in September 2022. There it was awarded the Queer Lion, one of the most important international festival prizes for LGBTQ films. At the Filmfest Hamburg, "Aus meiner Haut" received the Producer's Award in the category German Cinema Productions. The film's regular theatrical release was in February 2023.