Jean-Xavier de Lestrade is a French writer, director and producer of films and television series. He studied law and journalism in Paris, and turned to making documentaries which scrutinize the mechanisms of society. He won an Oscar for Best Documentary for his ninth feature, Murder on a Sunday Morning, in 2001. He is also known for his film The Staircase, about the murder trial against author Michael Peterson, who was accused of killing his wife. He is an executive producer for the TV series Sin City Law (2007), which has been shown on the Sundance Channel in the US.