José Alejandro Gómez Monteverde (born 13 July 1977) is a Mexican filmmaker. His first film, ''

Bella Bella is a feminine given name. It is a diminutive form of names ending in -bella. ''Bella'' is related to the Italian, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese and Latin words for beautiful, and to the name Belle (given name), Belle, meaning ''beautiful'' in F ...

'', took top prize at the 2006

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

by winning the "People's Choice Award". He also directed the films '' Sound of Freedom'' and '' Cabrini''. In 2007, Monteverde received the US Citizenship and Immigration Services' " Outstanding American by Choice" Award, which recognizes the achievements of

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

U.S. citizens.

Career

Monteverde wrote and directed ''

'', a film that took top prize at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival by winning the "People's Choice Award". ''Bella'' was produced by Sean Wolfington, Eduardo Verástegui, Leo Severino, and Denise Pinckley. Monteverde and the filmmakers received honors for ''Bella'' from the Smithsonian and the White House. The Smithsonian Latino Center also honored Monteverde with their "Legacy Award". After US President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

and First Lady

Laura Bush Laura Lane Welch Bush (née Welch; born November 4, 1946) is an American educator who was the first lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009 as the wife of George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States. Bush was previously the fir ...

saw the film, Monteverde was invited to sit with the First Lady in her private box during the annual

State of the Union The State of the Union Address (sometimes abbreviated to SOTU) is an annual message delivered by the president of the United States to a Joint session of the United States Congress, joint session of the United States Congress near the beginning ...

speech in 2007. Monteverde directed and co-wrote ''

Little Boy Little Boy was a type of atomic bomb created by the Manhattan Project during World War II. The name is also often used to describe the specific bomb (L-11) used in the bombing of the Japanese city of Hiroshima by the Boeing B-29 Superfortress ...

'', a film set during World War II, released in 2015. Monteverde directed and co-wrote '' Sound of Freedom'', starring

Jim Caviezel James Patrick Caviezel Jr. ( ; born September 26, 1968) is an American actor. He played Jesus in ''The Passion of the Christ'' (2004), Tim Ballard in Sound of Freedom (film), ''Sound of Freedom'' (2023), and starred as John Reese (Person of Inte ...

Mira Sorvino Mira Katherine Sorvino (; born ) is an American actress. She rose to stardom with her performance as a prostitute in the comedy film ''Mighty Aphrodite'' (1995), which won her both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Academy Award for Best S ...

and Bill Camp. It was shot in 2018 and was set to be released by 2020, but because of the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney and the film's subsequent shelving, it was not released until Angel Studios acquired it. He also directed the 2024 film '' Cabrini'', which is based on the life of

Frances Xavier Cabrini Frances Xavier Cabrini (; born Maria Francesca Cabrini; 15 July 1850 – 22 December 1917), also known as Mother Cabrini, was a prominent Italian-American religious sister in the Roman Catholic Church. She was the first American to be reco ...

. Like ''Sound of Freedom'', the film is also distributed by

Angel Studios Angel Studios, Inc. is an American independent Christian media company and Film distributor, film distribution studio based in Provo, Utah. It operates the Over-the-top media service, over-the-top video on demand, video on-demand service Angel. ...

. In 2022, Monteverde was given a Humanitarian Award by the Coronado Island Film Festival.

Personal life

Monteverde married American actress Ali Landry on 8 April 2006 in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. They have three children: a daughter born in July 2007, and sons born in October 2011, and July 2013. Their son Valentin Francesco's middle name was inspired by

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

, as Monteverde and Landry met him while she was pregnant and he blessed the baby. His father, Juan Manuel Gómez Fernández, and brother, Juan Manuel Gómez Monteverde, were found dead with fatal head wounds in Pueblo Viejo, in the Mexican state of Veracruz, on September 19, 2015, approximately two weeks after they were kidnapped from their home in nearby Tamaulipas. On November 9, 2015, six people were arrested for the kidnapping and murder of Gómez Fernández and Gómez Monteverde. The suspects were allegedly holding six Central American migrants hostage at the time of their arrest, according to the Chief of the Mexican Federal Police.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Monteverde, Alejandro Gomez 1977 births Mexican film directors Mexican male screenwriters Mexican film producers People from Tampico, Tamaulipas Living people