Miguel Alvarez is a Chicano filmmaker whose work explores themes of memory, identity, family, and belonging. Working across documentary and narrative filmmaking, he creates emotionally resonant stories that often blend intimate human experiences with ambitious cinematic storytelling.

Miguel Alvarez Director projects have earned recognition from the Directors’ Guild of America, Panavision’s Emerging Filmmaker program, the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts, the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture, and the Austin Film Society. His commercial directing work includes campaigns and films for brands such as Ally, Ethos, Pandora, and Ravensburger, bringing the same character-driven storytelling and cinematic craft that define his narrative and documentary work. His films have screened internationally, from Tribeca to festivals across Europe, Asia, and Latin America.

His documentary work includes The Giant Still Sleeps, commissioned by PBS and The Washington Post, and Voto 2020, both examining issues affecting Latino communities. His acclaimed short film Mnemosyne Rising, a poetic science-fiction story about a transmitter pilot haunted by memories of home, was distributed by DUST and has reached hundreds of thousands of viewers online. Other notable films include Atlantic City, an inaugural participant in the Kodak + Kickstarter Film Initiative, and Veterans, a personal exploration of family and wartime experience.

A Sundance/Cinefestival Latino Screenwriting Project Fellow, Miguel continues to develop original narrative work that brings uniquely Chicano perspectives to science fiction and genre storytelling. In addition to filmmaking, he serves as an Assistant Professor of Film Production at the University of Texas at Austin and as Executive Producer of Austin Film Festival’s Emmy Award-winning television series, On Story.