Alexander Riedel was born in Augsburg in 1969. After completing his school education and abandoning previous career choices, he enrolled at the Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film (HFF) in Munich and studied directing. In 2001, while still at the film academy, he and Bettina Timm founded the company Pelle Film, through which he also produced his graduation project "Draußen Bleiben". The documentary about the friendship between two girls in a Munich refugee home screened at the DOK-Fest, got many positive reviews and was nominated for a First Steps Award. At the 2010 Munich Film Festival, Riedel presented his first feature film "Morgen das Leben". The semi-documentary story of three ordinary city dwellers was released in German cinemas in the early summer of 2011.