ALEJANDRO MONTALVO

Alejandro Montalvo began his career as a photographer on independent films, including Hotel de Paso, winner of Best Mexican Documentary, and Navajazo, awarded the Golden Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival. His path quickly led him into directing—first in advertising and later in fiction filmmaking with his short film Hambre, which was selected at more than a dozen international festivals.

From his earliest works, Alejandro has demonstrated a consistent pursuit of visual excellence and a directing style that deeply values creative collaboration. His experience also extends to editing; he served as a senior editor on television projects for HIP, Discovery Channel, MTV, among others.

In the advertising field, Alejandro has built one of the most notable careers in northern Mexico. He was the creative force behind acclaimed campaigns such as the 2020 Super Bowl commercial for Fox Deportes featuring Los Tigres del Norte, and a series of tourism campaigns that redefined the image of Baja California.

The campaign Baja Norte: La conquista de tu vida received the award for Best Tourism Video in the World from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in 2019, and was also honored at the Terres Festival in Spain as Best Regional Tourism Video. Later, with The Road Awaits (2020), he garnered multiple awards once again, solidifying a new tourism narrative for the region.

This new narrative evolved into a series of campaigns that rebuilt the visual and emotional identity of Baja California: Welcome to Baja California, Capital of Mexican Wine, Mexico’s Most Revolutionary Gastronomy, and The Oasis of Craft Beer, among others. These campaigns not only repositioned the region.

In addition to his work in tourism, he has directed advertising campaigns for national and international brands such as Devlyn, Fox Sports, and FUD. He also directed two episodes of the documentary series Matices, produced for Discovery Channel and narrated by singer Lila Downs, a production that explores the cultural and social richness of color in Mexico from multiple perspectives.

His first feature-length documentary, Surgencia, portrays the journey of winemaker Hugo D’Acosta and chef Benito Molina through the Baja California peninsula. The film reflects on territory, community, and the human decisions that shape the landscape. Surgencia was awarded the Audience Award in the Cinema Cocina section at the Málaga Film Festival 2025, cementing Alejandro’s voice as a relevant and sensitive presence in contemporary culinary documentary cinema.