Biografia
Alonso Alvarez-Barreda was born in Mexico City and grew up in the small town of Tampico on Mexico’s eastern coast. Despite his father's attempts to steer him toward a professional ping-pong career, he chose to follow his passion for filmmaking.
Under the mentorship of Alejandro Monteverde, Alvarez-Barreda directed his debut short film, Historia de un Letrero. The entire project was filmed in Tampico on a $50 budget, using borrowed equipment and friends as actors. In 2008, it won the Best Short Film Award at the Cannes Film Festival.
His third short, Crescendo, is an 18th-century period piece in German that portrays the birth of Beethoven. Produced by Mexican businessman Carlos Slim, it screened at over 30 international film festivals, including Telluride and New York, and was a finalist for the 2013 Oscars®. The film earned him the Best Director award at the NBCUniversal Short Film Festival, along with nominations for Best Writing and Best Film.
In 2014, Alvarez-Barreda was among four filmmakers chosen for the inaugural HBO Access Directing Fellowship. This program culminated in the production of his short film, The Walk, starring Max Arciniega (Breaking Bad). The story follows a Mexican man and his young son illegally crossing the border.
Since then, Alvarez-Barreda has directed a dozen television episodes, including The Mosquito Coast for Apple TV, The Lincoln Lawyer for Netflix, Mayans M.C. for FX, Big Sky for ABC, Jordan Peele's The Twilight Zone for CBS All Access, The Chi for SHOWTIME, Kindred for FX, American Horror Stories for Ryan Murphy, and The Calling for David E. Kelley on PEACOCK.
Three episodes of Snowfall that he directed have been submitted by FX for the Emmy category of Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series.
Alvarez-Barreda is currently in post-production on his first feature film, The Wingwalker, starring Mexican actor Omar Chaparro and Ariel Winner actress Mercedes Hernandez.
